REAL LIVES BEING SAVED BY `ER'; SHOW RAISING THE PUBLIC'S MEDICAL IQ.

Byline: Keith Marder Daily News Television Writer

Glendale Adventist Medical Center didn't use a heart medication called TPA as a treatment for stroke until a patient who had seen it used for brain attacks on NBC's ``ER'' asked about it.

``We went through our whole protocol, and now we're using something that was kind of pushed in our face by the show,'' said Dr. Harlan Gibbs, director of the emergency department at Glendale Adventist.

It seems television's most popular program is entertaining - and educating.

Teaching tool

Millions of people have picked up vital health information from the 4-year-old drama, according to a study released in October by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which is not related to Kaiser Permanente.

Dr. Richard Foullon, emergency room director at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said he has seen cases where ``ER'' could very well have saved lives.

``Without question, I've seen instances when people come in with chest pains and have commented on the fact that either they themselves or their spouse had seen something similar on `ER' and decided to have it evaluated,'' Foullon said. ``A show like `ER' has an opportunity to be a tremendous educational benefit to the public.''

The study revealed that 53 percent of ``ER'' viewers have learned important health-care facts from the show, 32 percent say they get information that helps them make decisions about their family's or their own health care, and 12 percent of viewers have contacted a doctor as a result of something they saw on ``ER.''

Maybe ``ER'' is worth the reported $10 million per episode its studio, Warner Bros., is asking NBC to pay for the program next year.

Health hearsay 

Flattered though they are by viewers' trust in the accuracy of their show, producers nevertheless advised the public to get a real doctor's opinion.

``They shouldn't be getting medical information from `ER,' '' said Dr. Lance Gentile, one of the show's producers/medical consultants. ``Hopefully they are doing what the study shows and taking what they hear to a health-care professional.''

Princeton Survey Research Associates conducted the Kaiser telephone survey before and after the April 10 episode of ``ER,'' which included a short story line about a date rape and post-coital birth control. People who said they watched about three of every four episodes of the show were included in the first two phases of the study, and people who specifically watched the April 10 episode were included in the final, or follow-up stage.

The number of viewers who knew that a woman had options for preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex rose from 50 percent to 67 percent among ``ER'' viewers after the show aired. Of those who knew that a woman in that circumstance did have choices to avoid pregnancy, 33 percent said they learned that the morning-after pill was a possibility as opposed to 10 percent before the show aired. Taking into account that 34 million people watched the episode, 5 million to 6 million people may have learned about this treatment from watching the show.

``It has always been a belief that the entertainment media can be an important vehicle for informing and educating the public,'' said Kaiser Foundation president Dr. Drew Altman. ``There had been very little documentation. It was widely believed but never proven.''

It's still TV

From its outset, ``ER'' has taken special care to have realistic medical story lines. In addition to Gentile, who works at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center, ``ER'' employs two other emergency-medicine doctors and another fresh out of medical school. Between the doctors in the field and their friends and associates, the show's writing staff has plenty of anecdotal information at the ready.

The intention, however, is not to be a documentary, or a cog in any national health-care system.

``A tremendous amount of work goes into knowing all the facts and making it as accurate as possible,'' Gentile said. ``But it's a two-edged sword. A lot of choices are made for dramatic purposes. If people are using us for health-care decisions, there is a potential for misinformation.''

Whatever the intention, Dr. Foullon applauds the result. He is a believer that people should know far more than they do about medicine and that ``ER'' is an excellent place for that information to be dispensed.

``I think it's a tremendous asset to the efforts of the medical profession in light of everything you hear about HMOs and rising health-care costs,'' Foullon said. ``To educate the public to what signs and symptoms to be aware of and what proper actions they should initiate is a tremendous benefit.''

Glendale Adventist's Gibbs, who wrote a book analyzing the television show called ``The Medicine of `ER,' '' said his work is often being compared to that of the show's fictional physicians, such as hunky pediatrician Dr. Ross (George Clooney) and senior attending physician Dr. Green (Anthony Edwards).

``Some of the things are not true to life,'' Gibbs said. ``It's an hour of television, so the time frame is way off. It takes a lot longer to do things. And I would look forward to a commercial break.''

His patients often tell him what reminds them of the show and what doesn't. They know medical terms for sugar water - and how much they should be getting.

Dose of realism

According to Gibbs, statistics indicate that there will be 100 million visits to emergency rooms this year. In that time, one in three Americans will have a medical emergency, he said.

``The show is real enough that it prepares people,'' he said. ``It is an exciting hour of television - and, in it, people don't have to sit there for three hours.''

The bloodwork is described accurately as are the medicines and their dosages.

``One of my criticisms is that the doctors know too much,'' Gibbs said. ``Most of the time we have to refer to books.''

Another side effect of the show's popularity is, much in the same way that ``L.A. Law'' attracted more applicants to law school, ``ER'' has made emergency medicine an attractive specialty for medical students. According to Foullon, who has read and heard studies on the subject, emergency medicine is now the most sought after residency among doctors in training.

``It made it sexy,'' Gentile said. ``You get to work with Julianna Margulies (compassionate and personally troubled nurse Carol Hathaway), and you could be George Clooney if you did emergency medicine. Imagine how good your social life would be.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) er

Real doctors forced to keep up with those who play them on TV

Cover design by Lori Valesko Photo by Hans Gutknecht

(2) Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where Dr. Harland Gibbs oversees the emergency room, was prodded into using a new medication after a patient heard about it on ``ER.''

Hans Gutknecht/Daily News