People will get a peek at how the UNM Hospital staff deals with bloody accident victims and children who get popcorn lodged in their ears tonight on "Trauma: Life in the E.R." on the Learning Channel at 6 and 9 p.m.
Gerald Demarest, a surgeon who directs the division of burns and trauma at UNMH, appears in the show and mingled with people at a sneak preview event at the hospital on Friday.
He said of the 200 hours of footage shot for the show, the first of the two one-hour episodes accurately represents the hospital staff's daily performance.
"It's a chance for us to have what we do be seen on a national basis," he said.
UNM Hospital is the only Level 1 trauma center within 400 miles.
Sam Giammo, director of public affairs for the UNM Health Sciences Center, warned the sneak-preview crowd that the show might "be a little bloody."
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The audience of staff and students ate popcorn and stared at television screens, which showed doctors rushing to save the life of a woman who was critically injured after driving her car off the Taos Gorge Bride. The woman's cut-up lips quivered as doctors rushed to treat her.
The UNM episode isn't all blood, however. The crowd laughed as they watched a doctor pull a piece of popcorn out of a young girl's ear.
Demarest said the cameramen were very interested in the emergency room activity but knew to stay out of the way.
"By the end of the filming, it's very natural, you don't even notice they're there," he said.
He said he sometimes watches the show to see how other hospital staffs handle their patients.
Demarest, who has worked as a surgeon at the hospital since 1983, said he received recognition after appearing on two "Trauma: Life in the E.R." shows that were taped at UNM Hospital about three years ago. He said people called and asked, "Are you the same person I went to school with in fourth and fifth grade?"
Giammo said the show will boost hospital faculty and student morale and will be an excellent recruiting tool for the University.
"Our people are heroic," he said. "They save people's lives."
