Representations of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation on Korean Medical Dramas: Fiction Versus Reality

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We evaluated the differences between the clinical characteristics, procedure and results of real life cardiopulmonary resuscitation versus how CPR is portrayed in Korean medical dramas. METHODS: We watched 58 episodes of Korean television medical dramas including , and , broadcast during the period 2007 to 2010. We identified all occurrences of CPR in each episode and collected the fictional patients' age, sex, location, presumed cause of cardiac arrest, and return of spontaneous circulation rate for the CPR performed, and then compared these with actual, published resuscitation statistics. Whether or not the procedure employed in a fictional CPR scene adhered to current CPR guidelines was also evaluated. RESULTS: There were 39 occurrences of CPR in the 58 television episodes viewed, with the most common cause being cardiac arrest. The fictional ROSC rate after CPR (71.8%) differed significantly from published real life figures (p=0.072). The resuscitation process did not appear to follow current guidelines in 64.1% of the cases. Contrary to reality, the average age of patients was 41.3 years. CONCLUSION: The CPR provided to fictional patients in medical dramas televised in Korea is generally different than what would be provided to a patient in reality. In addition, the ROSC rate appears higher on television than what can be expected in the real world.