TRUE-TO-LIFE DRAMAS PLAY OUT IN ER

On NBC's hit television show "ER," young personnel with little training routinely crack a chest and perform major surgery in the hallway of the emergency room.

Meanwhile, a sordid, love affair is forming between co-workers in one of the unused emergency rooms while resuscitation efforts are attempted by the rest of the staff on a patient in the next room.

Although the emergency room staffs at St. Francis Medical Center and Southeast Missouri Hospital might wish their shifts were that entertaining, they say the television program "ER" rarely resembles the true-to-life drama experienced in a real emergency room.

"You don't see untrained personnel doing some of the things they're doing on that show," said Deanna Bennett, assistant nurse manager in the emergency room at Southeast. "We don't perform major surgery in the E-R either."

An emergency room doctor at St. Francis said in his many years of training, he never had a torrid love affair with a co-worker in the emergency room. He never saw anyone else have one either.

"I see it now on TV and I wonder what I missed," he said laughingly. "I don't think that happens. We don't have time."

In reality, the care givers in the emergency rooms of both hospitals have specific duties when a patient is rushed through their doors in need of immediate medical attention. No one does anything they're not trained to do and everyone has other duties when the emergency room is slow. In other words, no time for that love affair.

"These people are a breed all their own," said Pat Pennington, the nurse director of emergency services at Southeast. "They thrive on the stress and enjoy doing what they do."

Dan Roberts, a unit technician at Southeast, said he liked the thrill of emergency room medicine and planned to go to medical school. He would like to specialize in E-R medicine or cardiothoracic surgery after school.

"I really like the adrenalin-type stuff," Roberts said.

Personnel at both hospitals said they work in the emergency room because every experience is new and different. Besides the adrenalin rush and the desire to perform well under pressure, they enjoy meeting so many different people.

"But it's not quite as glamorous as you see on TV," said Doris Hotop, a registered nurse at St. Francis. "Nurses also are downplayed on that show."

Hotop said nurses, just as doctors, technicians and other emergency room personnel, are each very important because of the specific tasks they perform during an emergency or when people suffering less major illnesses walk through the door.

"We deal with everything from women on their period to full cardiac arrest," said a nurse whose assessment was shared by the staffs at both hospitals.

Medical care in Cape Girardeau is unique because it services such a large geographic and population area. People from five states might choose to come to Cape Girardeau for their health care and arrive through one of the emergency rooms.

"People come here to eat and shop, and they come here to have their heart attacks," said Dr. Robert Perry, a doctor at Southeast.

Hospital officials estimate the two hospitals serve 500,000 people in Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, western Kentucky, northeast Arkansas and northwestern Tennessee.

Last year at Southeast, 30,000 people were treated in the emergency room.

"Most of the patients were acute care," Bennett said. "About 30 percent of patients were treated in minor care."

Acute care is for patients who need more immediate care than people who need of attention for a non-life-threatening ailment.

Officials at St. Francis said about 24,500 people entered the door of their emergency room facility last year. Like Southeast, the hospital separates patients in need of immediate care and other patients suffering minor ailments. St. Francis' program, Convenient Care, is offered to patients who need to be seen by a doctor, but aren't in immediate medical danger.

"It's for people who can't get in to see the doctor immediately, or they don't have a doctor, or a variety of other reasons," said Dr. Charles Pancoast, medical director of emergency services at St. Francis.

And as the area population grows, both hospitals expect more patients to be treated in their emergency rooms this year.

Southeast expects 35,000 patients and St. Francis is projecting almost 27,000 patients in 1995.