Trauma: Life in the E.R.

Las Vegas is the place Americans go to take chances, but those risks aren't always at the gaming tables. The University Medical Center deals with trauma victims from the streets, highways, and desert.

University Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey, is a state-of-the-art trauma center. Meet the largely local staff of this ER, learn about the influences that led them where they are, and watch them work.

Mayhem California-style is part of life at the UC Medical Center in Sacramento, California. Many of the patients were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The staff makes these situations their work.

At Charity Hospital in New Orleans, the staff are on the front lines of a brutal way of life. They treat the shot, stabbed, beaten, abused, and neglected who are brought in from the streets of "The Big Easy."

Each member of the trauma team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has their own approach to their work. Meet this diverse group--from the mentoring head of the ER to the insecure resident.

The wealthy and prestigious image of Los Angeles is a stark contrast to the reality of daily life at King Drew Medical Center in South Central LA. Dedicated doctors treat a never-ending stream of patients struggling to survive on the streets.

The Hawaiian Islands offer serenity and beauty, but with certain risks. At Queens Medical Center in Honolulu, a woman is treated after being dragged by surf across sharp lava rock.

Detroit Receiving Hospital is under constant barrage of medical emergencies and trauma patients. The trauma team runs like a well-tuned engine, adeptly handling everything that comes through the door.

Albuquerque's University of New Mexico Hospital, the only facility of its kind in the state, sees the reckless traditions of the Wild West continue.

The University of Tennessee Medical Center mirrors the contrasts of its home city, Memphis. A traditional Southern town, Memphis has become a hub for digital technology, but when tragedy strikes, families close ranks in support.

The staff at St. Vincent's Emergency Room is as unusual as their patients are, but this eclectic and talented group can handle any curve thrown at them by the city that never sleeps.

Within an hour of Portland, Oregon, one can ski Mount Hood, surf the Oregon Coast or sail the Columbia River Gorge. But alcohol and recklessness can turn sport into nightmare, and the staff of Legacy Emanuel Hospital must pick up the pieces.

San Francisco General is the only level one trauma center in the city. The ER is almost always on total divert, meaning ambulances must take all new patients to other area hospitals. Only the critically injured remain, and it's still standing room only.

Pittsburgh is ranked the safest U.S. city, but this doesn't count the injuries that people inflict upon each other and themselves. The Allegheny General's trauma team is pushed to its limit with head injuries, brain surgery and a horse attack.

At the Level One Trauma Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, most patients arrive with multiple life-threatening injuries. The trauma team's first job is to prioritize their care and address the most immediate damage.

Oakland, CA, is home to a large population of people struggling with poverty and substance abuse and has more than a hundred gangs. Although they are on a low budget, the ER at Highland Hospital will manage to treat a wide range of injuries and people.

Travel the halls of Arizona's largest hospital, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, with doctors treating a teen who collided with a tractor-trailer, a chest stabbing victim, a man who was nearly decapitated and a woman giving birth in her car.

Denver Health Medical Center's trauma unit is equipped to handle disasters of any magnitude including Columbine High School shooting victims that were treated there. Join staff as they treat car wreck victims, gunshot wounds and snowboarding injuries.

Hennepin County Medical Center defies the county hospital stereotype. With state-of-the-art equipment and 84 private treatment cubicles, over 90,000 patients can be treated each year without overcrowding. Minnesota's oldest ER has kept up with the times.

Travel to one of the busiest trauma units in the nation at Louisville's University Hospital. With the only Level One Trauma Center for hundreds of miles, the staff sees their share of domestic violence from the isolated rural areas surrounding Louisville.

The comfortable climate and a colorful nightlife combine to increase drinking, irresponsible driving and reckless outdoor behavior during the summer months in Nashville. The talented staff of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's ER picks up the pieces.

It's Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, and the city is packed — the hotels are full and the roads are crowded, which means more trauma cases for the only Level-One trauma center along the west coast of the state. Tampa General is a teaching hospital associated with the University of South Florida, located on Davis Island and across from the downtown area. In this episode, the emergency staff handles a heavy patient load, including: two separate mothers involved in car accidents with their young children — one mother left paralyzed from the shoulders down; a cerebral palsy victim burned after falling into hot water; a girl suffering from grease burns; and a teenage girl whose truck skidded off the road into a concrete culvert.

Originally a major crossroad of the old west cattle trails, Dallas is now a high-powered center of the world's financial, technology and petroleum industries. The doctors and nurses at Baylor University Medical Center are the heroes of this post-modern western society. They possess the spirit and strength necessary to handle the high volume of cases that come their way, including: a man shot in the chest during an incident with police; a young man with a gunshot wound to the head; a man who cut off two of his fingertips in a meat slicer; a man with stab wounds directly over his heart; a drug user who overdosed on heroin; and a young man struck by a van while trying to cross Dallas' busiest highway on foot.

New Mexico is full of mountains, plateaus, rivers and breathtaking sunsets. Vast and wild landscapes border fast-growing cities, and intricate webs of highways cross thousand-year-old rock carvings. Albuquerque's University of New Mexico Hospital is the only Level-One Trauma Center within 400 miles. The more-than 50,000 patients who walk or are wheeled into its emergency room come from southern Colorado, eastern Arizona, the Navajo nation and right around the corner, and their traumas range from minor skin abrasions to serious internal injuries. In this episode the ER team at Albuquerque's University of New Mexico Hospital faces: a young woman suffering injuries after being trapped under her car for 12 hours; a toddler who has lodged a popcorn kernel in her ear; a combative young man injured in a high speed accident; a man rushed to the hospital whose condition deteriorates as the minutes pass; and the victim of an accidental gun shooting.

Las Vegas, Nevada is one of America's fastest-growing cities — it has blossomed from a dusty outpost en route to California to one of the country's premiere vacation destinations. Greater Las Vegas' variety, color, and opportunities attracts people from all over the country. Anyone seriously injured in any type of trauma, from western Arizona to eastern California, is rushed to University Medical Center. In this episode, the emergency staff helps: two alleged gang members shot during a drive-by; a child injured after falling from a second story balcony; a man shot in the head and back; a young man who has been shot eight times; and a truck driver whose rig fell 80 feet from a highway overpass.

Columbus, Ohio, the fifteenth largest city in America, is the home to Grant Medical Center, a Level-One trauma center that serves the city and 47 surrounding counties. As a result of Grant's large patient base, the staff is equipped to deal with both inner city tragedy and rural catastrophe at a moment's notice. In this episode, the medical staff tackles a number of traumas and urgent cases that need close and immediate attention, including: a man with a piece of wood impaled in his nose; a young man who was ejected from his vehicle in a high-speed roll-over accident; a stroke victim; a woman whose bladder is ruptured after being run over by her mother's car; a car refinisher who was electrocuted while on the job; and a hockey player who was injured during a rough game.

One hundred miles northeast of New York City on the Long Island Sound lies the busy port city of New Haven, Connecticut. Home to one of the most prestigious colleges in the world, Yale University, it is a city of contrasts — from centuries-old, abandoned industrial plants to gleaming high-tech office towers, to poverty-stricken inner city neighborhoods, to the stately homes surrounding Yale. Serving the urban, suburban and rural communities, the E.R. team at Yale-New Haven Hospital faces such trauma cases as multiple car crashes, farm equipment accidents and inner city gangland shootings nearly every day. In this episode, the team treats: a man who jumps out of a third story window to escape a fire; a young woman who has been struck by a hit-and-run driver; a smoke-inhalation patient whose condition suddenly becomes life-threatening; a teenager hit by a car and thrown off his bike; an elderly woman with a neck laceration; and a construction worker who has become paralyzed after being struck by a 7,000-pound steel beam.

Pittsburgh's 350,000 residents come from all walks of life, but tragedy can strike the lawyer or the steelworker. It is in these times of greatest need that people can depend on the doctors and nurses at Allegheny General Hospital. Here the staff will see: a man ejected from a car after it crashed; a newborn baby suffering from seizures; and an injured Cirque du Soleil acrobat.

Every day, the staff at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center is faced with the consequences of sudden and devastating trauma. Frequently, they must deal with issues surrounding head traumas, and in this episode, you'll see a 23-year-old Air Force sergeant just back from the Middle East who's been shot in the head, and a teenage boy who's been declared brain dead after a car crash.

It's nighttime in Pittsburgh. The skyline shimmers, the streets are quiet, and most people are safely at home. But there are always those who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, making mistakes. Across the river from the skyscrapers, the doctors and nurses at Allegheny General Hospital work tirelessly all day and night to repair the mistakes that others have made. In Night Calls, Dr. Ryan Flesher races to save a man who has overdosed, while Dr. Melissa McLane comes to the aid of an elderly woman with a shoulder fracture and three young men who were attacked in a bar parking lot.

Las Vegas is a city where life is an endless gamble. And the staff of its University Medical Center are there for people when the stakes grow too high and lady luck runs out. In this episode, patients include: a soccer player with a deep laceration under his toe; a 2-year old with the croup; and a young deaf boy who was hit by his neighbor's car.

You never know when trauma may strike. For those injured while simply going about their daily lives, waking up in a hospital bed days later can be terrifying and confusing. That's why the staff at Portland's Legacy Emanuel Hospital not only saves patients, but helps them rebuild their lives. This episode's patients include a toddler who's suddenly developed a severe infection on her face, an elderly man facing lung disease after a lifetime of smoking, and a young mother and daughter who were struck by a car.

Detroit, Michigan. The center of America's automobile industry. Life can change in an instant on the fast-paced highways and streets of the Motor City. When it does, the crew at Detroit Receiving Hospital stands by to repair and revive the injured and critically ill of this Midwest metropolis. In Motor City Blues, the doctors and nurses treat a man who shot himself in the mouth, claiming he was kidnapped by the same men who murdered his wife.