["Wild in the Streets" by Circle Jerks playing]
♪ Wild ♪
♪ Wild in the streets ♪
♪ Wild in the streets... ♪
- [Sky Health person] Approach take? - [Mike] Speed of approach?
-Environmental considerations? - [Mike] No.
- Ready for landing. -[man] Alright.
You guys are looking good.
♪ Turn on the steam pipe Cool me off ♪
♪ With your big crime fighters And your newspaper writers ♪
♪ Still need a drugstore To cure my buzz ♪
- ♪ Wild in the streets ♪ - ♪ Running, running ♪
♪ Wild in the streets... ♪
[Mike] Uh, Northwell Center, Sky Health One skids up Southside,
en route to North Shore University via the South Shore Round.
[woman] Samara, how's your chest pain?
Samara? Do you need more pain medication?
Yeah? Okay.
What we're gonna do is prepare to give you morphine.
Sometimes morphine causes a little nausea as well,
so we're gonna also give you Zofran.
[indistinct]
Samara, how are you feeling?
Samara. She's not responding.
We need to act right now. Her blood pressure dropped.
[man] Her EKG is fucking tombstones.
[woman] Alright, do you wanna-- Mike, we're gonna shock.
[Mike] Alright.
- [woman] Samara? No response. - [man] Charging.
- [woman] Alright, go ahead. - [man] We're gonna charge.
- [man] I'm clear, you're clear, all clear? - [woman] I'm clear.
- [shock rattles] - [man] Shock delivered.
- [woman] Rhythm and... - [man] Check her pulse. It's fucking slow.
- [woman] I don't feel a pulse. - [man] I don't feel it.
[woman] Alright, move. I'm gonna give her chest compressions.
One, two, three,
four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
10, 11, 12, 13, 14--
- [man] And, ready to shock. - [woman] Okay.
- [man] Clear? - [woman] I'm clear.
[shock rattles]
[man] Shock delivered.
- [woman] A slight pulse. Very weak. - [man] I feel it too.
Her EKG was fucked up. I knew this was gonna happen.
[woman] Her O2 is dropping. I need her to get two breaths.
- [man] Got you. What's our ETA, Mike? - [Mike] Five minutes.
She's still not responding to me, but she does have a pulse.
- ♪ Wild in the streets ♪ - ♪ Running, running ♪
♪ Wild in the streets ♪
[woman laughs]
That was a great simulation.
[siren blaring]
[theme music playing]
[back-up alarm beeping]
[indistinct shouting]
[woman] Somebody please, help me! Help me!
[music box playing]
[patient] I will throw all the fucking things.
[Mirtha] This girl! She's so out of control.
Oh, my goodness.
[phone ringing]
Okay, red phone. [chuckles]
- [phone ringing] - That's our bat phone.
- We might have another case coming in. - Lenox Hill Greenwich Village.
[dispatch] I have a 45-year-old female, suspected overdose.
Her breathing is distressed, low SpO2 levels.
[Mirtha] One hundred percent.
Stat team to resus, five minutes.
[ambulance siren blaring]
[Mirtha] What's your full name?
[nurse] She has a history of, uh, seizures.
She said she's complying with her medications...
- Okay. - [nurse] ...and blood pressure.
[Mirtha] Are you a smoker? Yes?
Have you had COVID?
- No? - [woman] No.
Are you vaccinated? Good.
She's moving like no air.
I feel like we should move to resus. I'm gonna intubate her.
I think this is all drug tox too.
- [nurse] I think it is. - Yeah.
[Mirtha] Just set up suction for me.
We have meds ready? Alright. We have a good line, right?
Let's get up a better waveform than that, please.
Push it. Okay, we're intubated for airway protection.
She's satting low, she's in respiratory distress, alright?
- Did it go in? - [nurse 1] Ox is going in.
[nurse 2] Ox is in.
[indistinct chatter]
[hissing]
[Mirtha] Good color change.
[beeping]
[tense music playing]
- [Mirtha] Can I have an NG tube quick? - [nurse 1] Yeah.
[beep]
Oh, thank you. [chuckles]
I don't know what she smoked.
[sighs]
- [beep] - [Mirtha] Okay.
Certainly the ER is one of the first points of resource for a lot of patients.
I don't wanna staple you and not tell you.
After the worst of the pandemic happened,
you just see a much more pronounced population of people in need.
We have a code stroke, so I'm going to go rapidly assess him.
We are definitely still seeing patients who just haven't bounced back from that
medical inattention essentially that they couldn't get during the pandemic.
Hi! I'm Dr. Macri, how are you?
So the ambulance crew told me that you called the ambulance today.
- Yes. - Can you get around with like a--
Use a walker?
I got a cane,
but if I walk from here to the bed, like, I stop breathing.
[Mirtha] Okay. How long has that been going on?
- A couple of years. - [Mirtha] Two years?
[indistinct]
Cooped up in your apartment for how long?
[patient] Four months.
- Haven't left your apartment in 4 months? - No.
- [Mirtha] Nothing? - No.
- Not on medications or nothing. - Okay.
[Mirtha] We're still seeing patients come in that are very sick,
that probably just decompensated with additional problems.
Deep breath. In and out.
At this point, if somebody, you know, is that ill, we're talking life and death.
EMS gets them to the hospital they need.
[tense music playing]
[ambulance siren blaring]
- Where is he? - [Mackenzie] Home.
[phone chimes]
- [Mackenzie's husband] Hello? - [Mackenzie] Hello!
Oh, are you naked?
Not fully naked, but they get to see a little something extra.
- And look at you! - Would you look at you?
He looks like General Zod from Superman.
- I know. Will you-- - [laughs]
- Yes! - [laughter]
- [Mackenzie] He's painting her room. - Yeah. Her room first.
- [man 1] You're doing the whole house? - [man 2] What color?
So, she's got neutral colors. She's not doing all this pink bullshit.
You're not doing any pastels or anything like that?
- No. Earthy. - We have a Yuma Sand.
- [laughter] - Oh, I'm excited!
Alright. I'm leaving. Goodbye.
- Alright. Love you. - I love you too.
Bye-bye.
- [man 2] See ya! - Gah!
He is Leonidas.
[dispatch] SkyHealth, we have a bleeder in Peconic. Seems like a GI bleed.
Needs transport to South Shore University Hospital's trauma center.
[Mackenzie] I've had someone ask me,
like, why would I keep doing this while I'm pregnant?
Like, because I want her to know she can still do anything.
We all know, like, the inherent risk of being in a helicopter.
Unfortunately, I've been at a program
where we have lost people due to a helicopter crash.
Should we cancel this flight?
- [paramedic 1] Nope. - Negative.
[Mackenzie] But, we've been trained. There's a lot of training,
a lot of continuous education that goes on with this job.
You know, I have several different state licenses for my nursing.
I have to be a national-registered paramedic.
I have two different state EMT licenses.
They make sure that you're very well-trained and capable.
I trust our pilots and our crew members implicitly,
you know, with my life.
[ambulance siren blaring]
[Elliot] My kidney transplant for this morning,
he needs to get urgently dialyzed.
- Okay, we'll bring him up. - [Elliot] Yeah.
Chris is a young gentleman who has a history of a disease called FSGS,
which causes his kidneys to scar
and excrete a lot of protein.
The problem with it is that eventually the kidneys start to shut down
and patients need to go on dialysis.
Now, Chris's case has been incredibly difficult
because to go on dialysis,
he needed a line placed into a big vein in his chest,
and Chris had an infection of the line,
and it led to an infection of his heart valves.
So he needed two open-heart surgeries, all as a result of going on dialysis,
and mostly because he couldn't get a kidney transplant fast enough.
All right, my friend.
- What surgery are we doing, my man? - [Chris] Kidney transplant.
[Elliot] The pathway for him to get to transplant has been far more difficult
than the typical patient we encounter.
Remember, general surgery, right?
We're all in Nassau County doing the operation.
You're in the Bahamas, feet up, having a cocktail, looking at the ocean.
- Happy to be off dialysis? [chuckles] - [Chris] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
- You're going to crush this. Okay, bud? - Thanks, doc.
[Elliot] Your sister was going to donate, right?
- Yeah. - And your sister fell through.
I remember you felt like in the dumps.
At that moment, were you resigned to getting a deceased donor kidney?
[Chris] I didn't know what was gonna happen.
I was hoping for the best.
- [Elliot] Mm-hmm. - [Chris] You know, expecting the worst.
[Elliot] Right. Well, you got the best, man.
[Chris] Yeah.
[Elliot] He put his message out to Facebook.
Eventually, we had an anonymous donor come forward to our center.
They didn't want anybody knowing that they were donating,
and they didn't want Chris to feel like he was indebted to this person.
[Ahmed] All right, so we talked about all the details.
I'll meet you inside in about five minutes.
- [John] Alright. I'll be there. - [Ahmed] Okay. Alright.
[Elliot] We found out that it's been Chris's partner in the NYPD,
where they've worked together for years protecting each other's lives,
and now his partner is coming forward to save his life.
John did not want the recipient to know who's giving him the kidney,
so we kind of arranged this totally separate.
This is not an easy decision.
We talked to him about all the possible complications,
repercussions, outcomes, short-term, long-term.
This is surgery. It's not a walk in the park.
And he still wants to donate.
There is slight risk with donation, but from my experience,
this had never stopped someone who wanted to donate from donating.
Donor kidney transplantation is the way out of organ shortage.
Thousands of people waiting on dialysis, waiting for kidneys.
He is actually the hero of the day.
[helicopter blades whirring in distance]
[Mackenzie] John, is it possible to scooch over for me just a smidge
- so I can hear your lungs? - [Jonathan moans softly]
Okay.
- Are you having any pain right now, John? - Yes.
On a scale of 0 to 10, what would you rate it?
- Eleven. - Ten being the worst--
- And where is it located mostly? - Mostly in my legs.
Okay. Any in your belly?
No. I have chest pain too,
from the doctor bashing the shit out of my chest the other day.
- You were getting CPR. - [Mackenzie] That's why you're still here.
You're very lucky.
[Jonathan groans loudly]
- [Mackenzie] Sorry, I can't help him. Up. - Lift me up.
[groans]
Fuck me.
[Mackenzie] Want something under your head?
Yeah...
- [Mackenzie] That make it better? - Yeah.
[Mackenzie] Okay.
- [groans] - Right, so we get this and move it right...
Oh God, help me.
- You guys got an Apache up there or what? - [Mackenzie] Do you like helicopters?
- [Jonathan] Yeah, I do like helicopters. - I do too. We have a Eurocopter 135.
It's a dual engine rotor system.
- Nice. - Yeah.
- [man] Been in a helicopter before? - [Jonathan] No.
[man] For us to communicate with you, you have to wear this headset.
This microphone portion has to be very close to your mouth.
Cool. Air Force One, let's go.
[man] I'm gonna think of you as my New York banana
'cause you're all wrapped up in this yellow skin here, alright?
- Take care, brother. - [man] Take care, man. Alright?
John is the man. Most people aren't that calm.
- [nurse] Feel better, okay? - I'll be back here.
[laughter]
[man] You're not supposed to say that when leaving the hospital.
- [man] I'm so sorry. - [groans]
[Mackenzie] I know.
- [man] Alright, we're good to start. - [Mackenzie] We're clear.
[pilot speaking indistinctly]
[helicopter blades whirring]
[helicopter comm chatter]
[atmospheric music playing]
[Jose] Josh's life is in the balance.
It's really delicate. It's touch and go right now,
so hopefully we can get him into surgery soon so we can see what's going on.
He's got a really hard road ahead of himself.
We're going to fight as hard as we can for this young man.
We know he's there. His brain was functioning.
That's not always the case. He's really fortunate
a bullet didn't catch him there. Then there's nothing anybody can do.
[Leslie] I'm just taking it one day at a time.
One day at a time, I'm taking it.
Just trying to be strong for him.
It's just a lot to take in.
[Donald] You know, like this young man, his mother, she came to me afterwards.
How do you not feel compelled to hug this mother?
Gun violence is unforgiving.
You make a snap decision, it's over. You can't take it back.
This is a children's trauma center, so we see enough.
We are trained at an extremely high level because of the resources we have here
with our doctors and the way they educate us.
We literally go out on the sick of the sick.
[woman] Transport's coming.
[dispatch] Five-month-old baby currently with a severe case of RSV.
He has a heart condition.
Family's in the country on holiday and brought him in this morning.
His condition has deteriorated.
He needs to be transported to Cohen's NICU immediately.
[Donald] Let's go.
[tense music playing]
[siren blaring]
[Donald] This is a five-month-old that had a cardiac history in his home country.
It seems like he caught RSV,
which made it much worse with his cardiac conditions.
So he's extremely sick and critical at this time.
This baby was at an outside hospital.
I guess they came to a point where they were unable to manage the patient,
and they felt the patient needed care they were incapable of.
So at that point, they contacted us, uh, for transfer.
We decided the child could benefit from coming to Cohen's.
- [man] You have him ready to come out? - [Mackenzie] Yeah.
[man] Roll him back.
[Jonathan groans]
[Mackenzie] Just lay back. Don't lift up your head.
- [man] Push him out. - [Mackenzie] I will.
Go ahead.
[Mackenzie] I've always loved taking care of others.
That's always something that I've really valued.
For someone to entrust you in such a short period of time,
you know, that's a very humbling experience.
This is a 56-year-old male. His name is Jonathan Carr.
[groans]
[Mackenzie] He does have a GI bleed.
This is the second unit of blood that's being given, so yeah.
[Jonathan groans]
And he has a fistula on that side,
so he gets dialysis every Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
He did sustain a cardiac arrest on Monday.
[doctor] How's your breathing?
[Jonathan] Well, it's very hard to breathe because... my chest.
[Mackenzie] I do try to talk to them like I would want my mother to be spoken to.
I know what it's like to trust people with someone that I love the most.
Like, my mom was sick five years ago,
and unfortunately she passed away.
I remember what it felt like to entrust somebody with her.
Just relax.
They're gonna take good care of you, okay?
I thought it was crazy,
because my due date is actually
a little bit more than a week after her passing,
and I don't think it's a coincidence.
I think that was her and God's way of telling me,
"You wouldn't have to suffer again like that,"
and that I would finally be reunited with her but in a different way.
I'm probably not going to do like a baby shower or anything.
Like, I don't want to burden people with that kind of thing,
and I know my mom can't be physically present,
like, sometimes it makes it harder.
So... sometimes it's easier just not to...
just not to do it.
[laughter]
- [nurse 1] You are too much. - [nurse 2] All the best to you, sir.
- [Chris] Alright, thank you. - [nurse 2] You're welcome.
- [Elliot] Do you make urine? Do you pee? - [Chris] No.
- When is the last time you peed? - Shit, I can't remember.
Uh...
- A couple years ago. - [Elliot] Couple years ago the last pee?
We'll take out the catheter and you'll hate me...
[chuckling] ...because you're gonna go from not peeing to peeing every two seconds.
It's a good problem to have.
Alright, my friend, have a good trip to the Bahamas. Enjoy.
- Okay. - When you're done, off dialysis, alright?
Alright, so some lines go in, and then we start the dance.
[Elliot] I'm the son of a nephrologist, which is a kidney doctor.
Time of verification, 11:09.
So when all my friends were going with their dads to Jets games,
I was going to dialysis centers
and watching my dad take care of patients with end-stage kidney disease.
I remember very distinctly being in the car with him,
and he made that phone call to a patient
to tell them they were getting a kidney transplant.
He was getting very emotional, he was excited.
He had taken care of this patient for upwards of 20 years.
And I realized at that point,
this transplant had the opportunity to change this recipient's life.
I thought, "I got to be involved with this." I was hooked.
[Ahmed] Okay.
We're ready when you are.
We're doing a laparoscopic left donor nephrectomy.
[nurse] We have independently collectively identified the patient
by name and date of birth, and resolved all discrepancies.
- Confirmed? - [Ahmed] Confirmed.
Now, we're starting to expose the kidney. This is kidney.
We moved the bowel, we moved the large intestine,
and now we're exposing the kidney.
And the kidney is surrounded by a big pad of fat.
The operation of donor nephrectomy
is the only operation in medicine that is done
for no benefit to the patient at all.
He is not a patient, he's a healthy guy.
So this operation defies what they teach us in medical school,
that "don't do harm," because this is an operation that carries harm anyway.
Would you donate a kidney to a relative?
[nurse] Yes.
[Ahmed] Would you donate a kidney to a friend?
[nurse] I don't think so.
[Ahmed laughs]
I think that's what I would also do.
[nurse 2] Not a friend?
- [Ahmed] I don't have friends. - [nurse 2 laughs] I thought we were.
[Donald] Forty? It's great. We're doing 87 to 90 sat.
Better than what we had.
Hang on. So, I'll take this.
We have an open port in his left femoral if we need to push drugs.
- Also, a 10cc syringe. - [man] Okay.
[Donald] We also got a PIV that's open in his right hand.
If your Epi is around, just in case.
[Dan] Yeah.
[Donald] Okay. That's the only thing we're going to need. Well, I hope not.
So, the next thing we need to decide.
Uh...
Full code, if it occurs, get him to the closest hospital.
- [Dan] Okay. - [Donald] Okay.
[ambulance siren blaring]
[machine beeping]
[Donald] Blood pressure's going.
Pressure's 66 over 53. End-tidal 17, 39.
Heart rate's 109. Sat is a whopping 88.
[Dan] You're connected to the tank? Oh, to my main?
I could do five mil equivalence, five mil syringe.
[Donald] So, from this way, Dan, our other diversion would be Syosset,
which is a very small hospital.
I'm just sharing the plan.
[Dan] Okay.
[Donald] Next step would be Plainview, a little further down the road.
But other than that, we have to end up in Cohen's.
[clerk] Hello, Pediatric Unit. Can I help you?
Hey, I'm coming back with a sick child. Uh...
Looking pretty rough. I might need to stop at the ER.
I'll let you know in about 15 minutes.
If he codes, we're going to stop with you.
We're actually bagging him because we cannot ventilate him.
Yeah, you got a little more diesel therapy in there?
[driver] Hold on to your hats.
[Donald] Oh, my God.
[Dan] No, really, hold on. She drives like a maniac.
Hey, it's Donald.
Can you meet me at the back door in 10 minutes?
It looks like he might code.
[tense music playing]
[Elliot] So I get called with some organ offers at like midnight,
some more organ offers at like 2:00 a.m.
I go back to sleep, everything is good,
and the dog does not stop having to, like--
Something happened to the dog's prostate in the middle of the night.
[nurse] No, he has to go?
[Elliot] Between the kids and the dog,
it's like nobody wants sleep to happen in the Grodstein household.
Let's see how they're doing in there.
[Ahmed] I think I got the short end of this deal with Dr. Grodstein.
[Elliot chuckles]
[Elliot] Wow. It's a big one. Whew!
It's the kidney, not the liver, right?
[Ahmed] I hope so. Right there.
That's no good.
[Elliot] What's wrong?
[Ahmed] It's gonna be very hard to open him.
Over the kidney where I have the green.
[Elliot] In the operating room...
[Ahmed] Stapler.
[Elliot] ...the main risk associated with donating a kidney is bleeding.
We're doing a laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, surgery,
on very large blood vessels.
So, any time you injure a blood vessel, you can run into bleeding.
[Ahmed] I can see kidney.
Can I have a suction, please? Suction.
Let's go quick. We have to go very fast.
You see, it's pulsating.
[Elliot] But it's pulsating and coming up this way.
- His artery, I don't think-- - [Ahmed] Where?
- [Elliot] Right where you are. - [Ahmed] Yeah.
[Elliot] A branch coming off this way, you have more of it going this way.
[Ahmed] Give me the scissors.
Then we'll take the Endo Catch bag as well.
[nurse] The bag. You want the 15? Okay, here's a 15.
[Ahmed] It's 15? Okay, that's all I need. Hold that.
[Elliot] Turn the table light to us.
Get the bag table flush up. Put another pressure bag.
- And ice. - [Ahmed] Wait...
[Elliot] Can you call Winick?
Okay.
Nurse. Four by four over here.
[nurse] Can I open it?
[atmospheric music playing]
[ambulance siren blaring]
[back-up alarm beeping]
- [Mirtha] Hi. - [patient] Hi, how ya doin'?
[Mirtha] So you have a history of high blood pressure.
- Yes. - Are you taking your medications?
[patient] I used to take my medication,
but lately I have been so busy, and I've been so tired,
and I've been falling asleep behind the wheel of my car.
- [Mirtha] Oh my goodness. - Just falling asleep anywhere.
And are you from here?
I'm not from here. I'm originally from Alabama.
[Mirtha] Alabama.
- Alright. Well, you have a lot going on. - Yeah.
I was trying to slow down.
[Mirtha] Yeah.
[patient] I had so much, working three jobs,
so now I'm just like, I need to just calm down
and try to get everything under control.
Are you doing the three jobs because you're just trying to...
- Trying to make money, miss. - Trying to keep your rent going?
[patient] Right.
[Mirtha] Okay. I understand.
You know, the situation is that your blood pressure is very out of control,
but your kidneys are also slower than stage 3 at this point.
They're slow, and it's probably because of the high blood pressure.
And I don't want to lecture you, but in addition, you smoke.
All those things are going to essentially continue to harm your kidneys
and the high blood pressure. You know,
if you don't get this under control, you won't be able to work,
and then help your family and help yourself.
Once your kidneys stop working, once there's no medication,
no lifestyle changes, nothing that's going to help them,
you're going to end up on something called dialysis.
It's three times a week, several hours a day.
Over time, it's very debilitating because it requires a lot of your time.
It's like a part-time job. You're gonna go uptown to Lenox Hill.
Hopefully, this is a one-time admission and we can--
You can turn things around. You really can.
I turned 35 a week ago and didn't celebrate it the way I wanted to,
so my best friends are taking me on a trip.
I don't know where just yet, but they're taking me on a trip.
- [Mirtha] It's a surprise. - Yeah.
So, you're turning 35.
And you're super young. You still have a lot ahead of you.
She's a sad little soul in 12, huh?
Do you know? She's so sweet.
Turns out she has all this stuff going on. It's like opening a can of worms.
She's obviously very non-compliant with lifestyle.
Basically all the bad stuff.
Like, her report card's F, F, F all the way down.
But she's also a woman who is a hard worker,
trying to keep herself afloat in a city like New York City, which is challenging.
If somebody told me, if your kidneys shut down,
you're going to dialysis three times a week,
I'd be like, "Forget it. I'm gonna take care of this, gonna quit smoking."
But that's easier said than done for some people.
I don't think my talk with her changed anything, but I hope it did.
[paramedic] Very good.
Alright, we're out of here.
There we go.
[atmospheric music playing]
Alright. I'm good.
[ambulance siren blaring in distance]
[Donald] All right, we made it. There you go.
Is Cardiology upstairs hanging out waiting for us?
[paramedic] Yeah.
[Donald] Alright, so our sat's 84, end-tidal 17, rate of 40,
heart rate's 113, blood pressure's cooking.
Uh, we have no issues with our drips, we have code drugs.
- Everybody's good with what we went over? - [Dan] Yes.
- [Donald] Alright. Bob, grab the elevator. - [Dan] Is that alright?
[Donald] He's on dopamine, ketamine, fentanyl, vec.
- [woman] Rough ride? - [Donald] It was a very rough ride, yes.
We prepared for what may happen or not.
- Twenty-one, way in the back. - [paramedic 2] Way in the back.
[Donald] The thing of note, ST elevations during the transport.
That's kind of what bothered all of us.
- [nurse] What would you like to do first? - [Donald] We're doing it.
[nurse] Oh. So what would you like to do second?
[Donald] Gonna give back your end-tidal because that's always a problem.
Let's disconnect for two seconds.
- [nurse] Is he off the cap, Don? - [Donald] Yes, yeah.
Are you guys ready for the vent? Let's go.
[Donald] At that moment, that parent's child is my child.
You have to be extremely sharp and be on your A-game when you're working,
because a lot of times you don't get a second chance,
so your intervention may save a life.
[Donald] He likes to be bagged. The side of 68 kind of stinks.
- [nurse] No, I think we have to bag him. - [Donald] Bag him? Can I have the bag?
[indistinct chatter]
[Donald] He's had a cardiac rhythm change during what we call ST elevation,
which sometimes could be a hypoxic heart event.
Potentially, if your heart becomes deprived of oxygen, your heart will stop.
The problem was we couldn't get his oxygen saturation up.
- It dropped down to about 44. - [worker] What?! Donald!
[Donald] Yeah.
The parents are on their way. They're very nice.
- [woman 1] ...very loud. - [woman 2] Do they speak English?
[Donald] Okay. So, that's all I have for you.
[doctor] I can start and then just review.
[Donald] Hi. Everything's okay. Nothing changed since you saw him last.
Initially, when you walk in, have a quick report with the family,
you offer them that little piece of you that you are a human, you're not a robot.
But he's not in any pain.
He's comfortable. He's exactly the same way you left him before.
[father] Are you gonna be here or leaving us?
[Donald] No, my job is to move patients to the hospital.
I was telling my wife you're the main doctor.
[Donald] I'm not. I'm a nurse. I've been doing this a long time.
- I did a helicopter and planes out West. - You've done a very good job.
Well, I had a NICU baby four years ago,
so I had to watch my daughter on a ventilator.
So I really understand what it's like to be on the wrong side.
- I just want you guys to please... - [Donald] We will.
...please, please, save my child.
He is my only child, and...
- I can't say anything. - [Donald] I can see it.
And I am on a visit. I don't know anything,
I don't have anything to-- I don't know what's going on.
- You're in the right place. - [father] That's very nice.
[Donald] Okay. We're going to do everything for him.
- Alright? - Thank you, sir. Bye.
[tense music playing]
[Donald] I have four children.
My last daughter was in the neonatal ICU for two weeks.
That was the longest 17 days of my life.
My then-wife's amniotic fluid was low, and they told us the baby has to come now.
That was a big shock. So she came out, she cried,
but I knew she wasn't 100% perfect.
She was whisked away after she was born, into the ICU, intubated.
And, um, you know...
I went from a neonatal transport nurse
to a Dad and, you know...
Not a good feeling.
It's like an elephant steps on your chest and there's nothing you can do about it.
But she was already where she needed to be.
The resources were there.
And my training of feeding much sicker babies
made it easier for me to help her that way.
It seemed like my career prepared me for that one instance,
where it made a difference.
[inaudible]
[Donald] But that's life, being prepared for what comes up.
You can't always plan for everything.
[Elliot] Stay on the line. Just nick the skin.
[tense music playing]
- [Elliot] That looks great. Sewing it now. - [doctor] Closing the vein now.
[Elliot] Tell him I love him and it looks great.
[doctor] Reperfusion went well.
- [nurse] You can pull the plug. - [Elliot] Can you let it down over there?
[Elliot groans]
I would have liked to call and say
this kidney is making a ton of urine right now.
Pressors are off, wonderful.
And look, there's some urine. It's coming. It's just a little slow to wake up.
Usually with living donor kidneys, if the kidney kicks in immediately,
you don't need any more dialysis because it'll get rid of potassium
that's building up in his blood.
If potassium builds up in your blood, it's super dangerous
'cause it can lead to your heart stopping.
We have to be on top of it post-kidney transplant
to make sure their potassiums don't get high.
[nurse] Relax your hand, okay? Good.
[Elliot] We have to go into the operating room on the top of our game.
We have to go into the operating room prepared.
It makes it really, really stressful for the surgeon.
It makes it really stressful for the operating room team.
And we have to truly make sure that we are minimizing any degree of risk
for that living donor.
But at the end of it, it's all the more gratifying
because you've been able to take care of two patients
and able to take part in the transmission of an amazing gift in the organ.
- [nurse 1] Bye, John! Bye! - [nurse 2] Later.
[nurse] Do we have enough space?
Well, we are building up some more urine. Look at that.
Our refill time at the bottom of the tube, a little better. A little.
- [nurse] We'll take it. - [Elliot] Small golf clap.
I'm coming in.
Let's go see the, uh, donor.
So we say the average kidney is, make a fist, that's the average kidney.
Yours was almost like that.
- Really? - It was big.
So it was very difficult to take out. It took a long time to take out.
- So it's implanted now. - Okay.
He's coming out of the operating room, and everything looks really good.
Okay.
Feels pretty good to save somebody's life, I imagine.
Well, it's not the first time.
- Yeah. - [both chuckle]
[woman] Who else has to sign the card?
[Laura] Does anybody want to sign a dog? Fifteen more minutes.
[indistinct chatter]
[Laura] Oh, God. Do they come with instructions?
[man] $80,000 education and can't open a freakin'--
[Laura] Tell me how to do this. What am I supposed to do?
- You're not helping me. - [Amen] I'm telling you, it's--
- [Laura] Ten minutes and she's coming. - Teamwork, guys.
- [man] There's another flower. - Somebody's gotta supervise this.
[Laura] Pull the tape.
She's gonna be so happy.
Oh, this is awesome.
- Thanks! It looks so good, guys! - [man] Especially the pom-poms.
[Laura] Should we bring presents to the end of the table or like this?
[indistinct chatter]
[Laura] Okay, I think she's here.
Surprise! [laughs]
- Nobody yelled "Surprise"? [laughs] - [men cheering]
[Laura] Hi! Are you surprised? [laughs]
Kaitlyn wants me to congratulate you.
- [Laura] Happy baby shower. [chuckles] - [Mackenzie] Thank you. Mm!
- [Laura] I hope you like it. - [Mackenzie] I love it.
[Laura] They were all helping decorate. [laughs]
Nobody yelled, "Surprise." You guys are terrible.
[paramedic] We don't want the baby to freak out.
[Laura] I didn't say scare her, just yell "Surprise."
[paramedic] Just surprise us.
- [laughs] What's that? - [Mackenzie] Isn't that awesome?
Holy shit, babe.
- [Mackenzie] I know! - Holy shit.
[Mackenzie] Isn't that amazing?
[husband] Oh, MacKen, that's freaking awesome.
[Mackenzie] I had a growth sonogram yesterday.
And the baby was measuring pretty small three weeks ago.
She's still measuring small.
Basically, she's not receiving the nutrients that she needs,
like, from my placenta.
And so it's going to cause her to grow a little bit slower.
- Face masks. - [paramedic] Seriously.
Wow, what a time to be alive.
[all laughing]
[Mackenzie] She may grow faster outside than she would inside of me,
so they want to induce me earlier than I thought.
You were not kidding.
So, that's where we're at right now.
Oh, my God.
[poignant music playing]
[Chris] I was able to make urine.
I haven't made urine in a couple of years.
Then I feel the sensation of it working, that's when I was like, "Wow."
Yeah.
[voice breaks] My partner gave me his kidney.
He originally-- He tried to keep it a secret,
but I found out when I went in for final testing
and I saw his name on the paperwork.
And when I saw his name, I just started weeping.
I couldn't believe John was doing that for me.
But he's always been that kind of guy.
When I was a rookie, he took me under his wing,
taught me a lot, helped me become a better cop.
And...
[voice breaks] He didn't have to do this. He did not have to do this.
I'm truly grateful.
I didn't really want Chris to know that I was giving him a kidney.
The job that we-- he still does, I used to do.
Sometimes you start seeing the world a little differently because of the...
the anger that is directed towards you every day,
and I thought maybe
it would be a nice gift to him
if he just thought that some stranger on the street, you know?
Didn't have to be from another cop. It could have been from anybody who just
wanted to do something good, and...
and they did good for him.
I've known Chris for years, and I know Chris has got a golden heart.
The whole point of this thing is for him to get a kidney.
It just so happened that I was the one that was going to be able to do it.
What are you doing?
- [Chris] Hey, what up, homie? - [John] Get out of that bed.
Come on, big brother.
We're blood brothers now. Can't get rid of me now.
Kidney brothers.
How are you feeling?
- Good, man. - Good.
You look alright. What's going on?
Ah. [stammers] I'm actually doing pretty good.
I just still got this pain in the surgical site, and--
- Yeah. That's where I'm hurting. - And the bloat and the gas.
But, uh--
Did you get gas bubbles up the shoulders yet?
- Oh, no. - Oh, wait for that.
[chuckling]
- All right, bro. You look good, man. - You look good too.
Yeah? Listen, if I need a liver, I'm coming after you, alright?
- You got it, brother. - [chuckles]
[Chris] Do anything for you, old man.
- I'll come back to see you in the morning. - Alright. We'll take a walk together.
Alright, brother.
- [dog barking] - [Elliot] Daisy, stop. Hey, Daisy!
[laughing]
[Elliot's wife] All right, chapter 11. But, Elliot, can you get off your phone?
Yeah, I'm just setting an alarm.
Why are we reading for two minutes?
- A big stack of-- - Don't forget the poop!
Okay, shush.
[laughing]
[Mackenzie] No, on the real, though, dude. I'm gonna miss you.
[man] You're gonna be a mama.
[Mackenzie] I know, I'm like super nervous.
[sighs]
[atmospheric music playing]
[cell phone ringing]
[Elliot] Yes, it's Dr. Grodstein.
Bye. Alright. Bye.
- Love you. - Love you too.
And I love you. [kisses]
[dispatch 1] Medic 99, I have a transplant pick up at Republic Airport
going to North Shore University Hospital.
[dispatch 2] 10-4.
[Lewis] Hello, Doctor. Why don't you tell us about the patient?
[doctor] She comes in for fatigue and jaundice.
She turned yellow, and she came into the hospital.
[Hospital clerk] Alright. You're thinking autoimmune here?
[doctor] Yeah, I think it's autoimmune.
[closing theme music playing]