NBC’s new medical drama, Trauma, is based on the lives of the first responder team of San Francisco City Hospital. The team is made up of flight medic Reuben Palchuk (Cliff Curtis), helicopter pilot Marisa Benez (Aimee Garcia), paramedics Cameron Boone (Derek Luke) and Nancy Carnahan (Anastasia Griffith), EMTs Tyler Briggs (Kevin Rankin) and Glenn Morris (Taylor Kinney) as well as Dr. Joe Saviano (Jamey Sheridan). Written by Dario Scardapane and directed by Jeff Reiner, the show follows the team as they respond to emergencies and deal with the emotional struggles associated with saving and losing lives on a day to day basis.

The first episode begins with scenes of the team responding to a call involving a burn victim on the roof of a city skyscraper.

The story takes an unexpected turn as the team of responders witness an approaching medi-vac helicopter collide with another chopper, exploding in a cloud of debris and claiming the lives of several crew members. The show then jumps to the one year anniversary of the crash, and focuses on the responders, some of which are still dealing with emotional scars from the accident, as they attempt to pick up the shattered pieces and go forward with their responsibilities of saving lives.

Later in the show, the team is called to a multi-car pileup on the highway, caused by a man texting on his cell-phone. The team is busy assessing and treating the crash victims when paramedic Cameron Boone suddenly notices that a tanker, involved in the pileup, is losing fuel close to an open flame. Boone scrambles to clear the area of people before the pending explosion takes place. He is successful in his attempts and the scene returns to the team assessing and treating the remainder of the crash victims.

Being a sucker for medical dramas, I personally enjoyed the show, though I thought it lacked originality, showing similarities to the network’s Third Watch. It was however, somewhat “intense” and “action-packed” as promised by NBC. I look forward to watching future episodes and seeing what the future has in store for this new series.  Here’s a look at next week’s episode: