I like to classify myself as an executive fangirl, from the merry old land of Scot. I've been going by Fyre online since 2001, and doubt that'll change anytime soon. Welcome to my fandom playground where I will inundate you with fic, meta, pretty pictures and more than my fair share of innuendo :D It's what I do :) My AO3 account
So because every time I make a Jesse post that gets traction, someone tends to comment on the fact that Ned Brower, the actor that portrays him, is a nurse, I've decided to make this post about the real life medical professionals in the cast of the Pitt.
Partly so more people will know about them but mostly because these are six characters that are seen in a solid majority of episodes, as they are typically in the Trauma rooms, and get next to no recognition since a large part of the fandom could not name these characters if they tried. And that seems wrong since (aside from Ned), they are also part of the Medical Technical Advisors that help nail down the realism of the show.
Ned Brower, RN as Jesse Van Horne
The man, the myth, the legend himself, Ned Brower. Ned is an active nurse at Sollis Health when he's not working on the Pitt. And while most fans of his may know that he was the drummer for the band Rooney and is one half of the band, Bloodwerk (whose name was thought of by one of his medical colleagues if you can't tell), he is also a former EMT with LA County Fire Department.
And really, it's a minor miracle that he's on the Pitt since, when he first heard about it, it was through Joe Sachs, MD, who is a physician at Sollis and a consulting physician for the Pitt. A job Ned did not want, though he suggested his actress wife might be interested (he's married to Sarah Jane Morris, who played Robby's ex and Jake's mom, Janey Malloy). However, when given the chance to audition for a role on the show, Ned did. And clearly nailed it since what was meant to be a 3-4 episode role definitely expanded into a fan favorite.
Tim Van Pelt, RN (Retired) as Tim Sallinger
Tim is a working actor who has appeared in shows like The West Wing and The X-Files and has worked Off-Broadway and in commercials. But when his career slowed, he went back to school at 50 to become a nurse. And what he brings to the Pitt is logistics. He is the man who makes the spreadsheets that map the department, track the patients, their symptoms and treatments. As a former Charge Nurse of UCLA Healther's Santa Monica Hospital, he definitely knows his shit.
Over the nine days it takes to film an episode, Tim is responsible for calculation how much fluid should've drained from the IV and adjusts it accordingly. He figures out who needs crutches or a wheelchair, or if they're in a bed. But also, he advises Katherine on how Dana should respond to certain situations.
Melette Le Blanc-Cabot, PA, as Sophie
Melette is kind of like Ned in that she was an ER nurse that got in to television through a colleague. It's just she did it in 1994 and was part of making the trauma scenes of ER (1994) look more realistic by being of the many actual medical professionals on set. And by the fourth season, she found herself seriously entering the world of medical technical advisor after Noah introduced her to his friend who was producing a commercial at the time, which in time became her advising more seriously.
So it's no real shock that The Pitt EP, Joe Sachs, a former colleague, reached out to her. On The Pitt, she helped train the cast during their two-week medical boot camp by demonstrating essential medical skills like suturing, prepping medications and performing intubations to give a sense of realism, but also found her role expanded from "Medical Technical Advisor" to "actual cast member".
Ambar Martinez, RN as Kim Tate
Ambar is another case where the acting preceded her entering the medical field. Because while she has experience as a nurse, having graduated from nursing school around 2013, worked as an ER nurse and worked as one during Covid, for Ambar acting (and later Medical Advisor) is a primary focus. In fact, when it comes to the Pitt, she first auditioned for the role of a patient. However, when offered the role of a medical advisor helping run the medical boot camps, she took that teaching the cast how to use the equipment, as well as working in the background helping to move patients.
It was only as they headed into episode 4 where she was approached about portraying a new character, Nurse Kim (eventually leading to her having to do a Zoom audition for the character when bigger scenes involving her was planned out).
Jamie Lynn Watkins, RN as Jamie Watkins
While there's not much to be found about Jamie in her own words, it's known that--much like Ned, who works at the same hospital she does--she is an active nurse when not working on other projects. Because, as noted in an interview with Ambar Martinez, Jamie has a long history of working as a Medical Advisor for shows such as 9-1-1 and, of course, the Pitt when she's not playing a nurse on tv shows like St. Denis Medical and the Rookie.
Jordan Farrand, RN as Jordan Prescott
When it comes to Jordan, he's a bit newer to the world of acting despite his established role as an ER nurse. Because of that it's a bit harder to find out about him at this time. However, much like the rest of the actual nurses in the cast, he played his part in coordinating what background actors should be doing during the Pittfest scenes and is an actual on-set reference like the rest of the medical professionals working on the Pitt.
absolutely looosssinggg it. i'm so obsessed with movies which portray the woman MC in a highly specific job because the writers clearly think it's like "off-beat" and "quirky" but have no idea how the field works whatsoever.
i decided to try a romcom i somehow missed i the 2000s 'head over heels' and i got 3 and a half minutes in and we're introduced to the lonely MC with bad taste in men as evidenced by her extremely short list of ex boyfriends, including her first boyfriend when she was 11 or something because i guess that's still relevant in her adult life.
so she's resigned herself to never finding love and prefers to ignore men to focus all her energy into her career.
this job is immediately presented as though it's for spinsters with no hope of ever finding a man.
the mc's lesbian bestie (whose first line involves her being scolded for being too sexual in the workplace, but moving on) points out their colleagues as evidence that they're doomed to a romance-less, sexless life if they don't switch up their shared career path. the colleagues are three old women, so-dubbed "the menopause triplets":
these women are presented as if they have no idea what's going on at any given moment. this is 2001, and presumably this is an entry level job requiring low effort and no experience.
then their boss bursts into the room, unceremoniously bumping a large painting into the door jam and walls, announcing that it's a new project for our MC.
our MC is thrilled to see the painting. apparently it's a light in the daily slog at her dreary job for loser women with nothing going on in their lives.
And that job is? Conservator of paintings (specializing in Renaissance) at the New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The painting being handled like an old couch on its way to the curb?
The Bacchanal of the Andrians by Titian.
Her lesbian colleague who is presumably also a a highly trained & skilled curator finds it depressing that the MC is so excited about the painting.
it's a quirk unique to this MC that she cares so much about paintings, in her department at the metropolitan museum of art, where her colleagues find all that art business rather dreary. because we all know that's what conservators in extremely competitive museum positions are like.
I'm not saying there can't be lifelong love in here somewhere but I also just feel like the monogamous heterosexual marriage you're fantasizing about isn't necessarily best represented by the bacchanal. and that's okay. but i do stand by that.
One time when I was a kid a group of girls and I had to treat another student for hypothermia by ourselves because she had so many invisible health issues that the adults we asked for help didn't believe us. The student in question was actively hallucinating. When I finally ran for help the people I grabbed were slow as shit to respond, casually joking about how "dramatic" the person in question was.
The kid was picked up by an ambulance 30 minutes later.
Now as an adult working in security I get SO MANY folks- upper-middle aged mostly- coming to me to 'rat out' people they think are faking it.
I was once sent into a bathroom because a client demanded that the "fucker won't get out, so go drag them out"- I was NEVER going to do that, so I did a wellness check instead. You know who it was? A person recently released from the hospital after a car accident. They had a hole in their skull and major hearing loss. They couldn't answer the owner because they couldn't HEAR the owner.
Another time about a homeless man who got around town by kicking the ground from his wheelchair. "You know he doesn't actually need that thing, his legs work fine, it's just for pity points"- Oh, so he's not paralyzed, his wheelchair is performative? Funny story Dale, I actually know that guy, he was backed over by a truck and has chronic pain from his shattered pelvis. But sure, let's make him stand up and walk everywhere so nobody feels too bad for him and tries to help him or something.
"She doesn't need that scooter, I've seen her get out of it."
"Look how fat he is, because he just rides around and refuses to get up."
"She doesn't really need that cane- she comes here without it all the time"
Sincerely, truly, from the bottom of my heart- as someone who isn't physically disabled but hears this shit all the time- fuck off
"This is the odyssey of recollection" hits so hard when all the threads get pulled and everything unravels 🤯 Is it really the same relationship when all the bits of it that you remember have been replaced with something else?
if you decide to become a police officer then that outweighs any other marginalised identity you can rustle up like. not sorry, who asked you to willingly become a pig
I have heard of black people warning their kids that the race of a police officer is cop and you should not expect solidarity from them. The same applies to other types of minorities.
The sexuality of a police officer is cop.
The gender of a police officer is cop.
When you become the enforcer and protector of capital, you are making the deal to be slightly favored by the system over others like you, in exchange for being its servant. Your solidarity is with the system that you serve, even if it hates you.
If you want solidarity with those the system hates, you cannot be the system's servant and defender.
you've heard of death of the author, now get ready for death of the audience: where instead of basing your reaction on a thousand uninformed opinions online, you actually read the text and engage with it
Transphobia is about to be signed into law in the UK. We can fight this.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
Last year we broke the record for an LGBT+ mass lobby of Parliament. Will you help us break it again? Join us on 25th June 2026 to demand be
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:
Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.
Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.
Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. You will also get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination.
e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee.
If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).
A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
I have also made a PDF printout of QR codes for the government petition, email your MP tool, and mass lobby link to pass around your communities. DM me and I'll send it to you.
Interview with the Vampire S1: Let me tell you the true story (ignore Rashid. He's not important)
Interview with the Vampire S2: Welcome back to Unreliable Narrator, season 2. Time for some more truth :)
The Vampire Lestat: HOLD MY BEER.
“For New York City Pride in 1994 (Stonewall 25), Baker created a mile-long rainbow flag that was carried down First Avenue in Manhattan. During the parade, Baker used scissors to cut segments from the flag to be rushed to Fifth Avenue for an impromptu protest march in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the headquarters of New York City’s anti-gay Catholic archdiocese.
^“At the bottom of the image is the segment of the flag cut for the St. Patrick’s Cathedral protest. Photograph by Mick Hicks”
“Gilbert Baker wearing a white sequined dress (right) and other protestors triumphantly march the cut pieces of the mile-long flag past St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Photograph by Charles Beal”
i know folks are gonna call me a pedo for this one, but i grew up seeing my mom and grandma naked. they had health issues and at times needed care and help showering. and i truly think more kids need to be shown the nonsexual reality of naked women at a young age. there is nothing sexual about my grandmothers breasts, they were simply body parts. more women die of heart attacks because people are too afraid of breasts to do real chest compressions, because they are scared to touch their breasts. the sexualization of our bodies literally kills us. i need people to be more normal about naked bodies and i'm 100% serious.
A Muse of Fyre @amuseoffyre - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
