a (somewhat) definitive guide to the ED patient board in The Pitt
hi. they let me loose again. i'm sorry. buckle up because this post is gonna be LONG.
(episode 2)
The board is actually just a glorified (Gloria-fied, if you will) Google Sheet titled: PTMC: The Board. Very high tech and professional. The time is stamped in the top right corner which they do stay pretty up to date on so kudos for that (it won't last I have some continuity errors coming later lol).
Some quick details on what info you can get from the boards:
Organized by beds (North 1-6; Central 7-14; South 15-22; Trauma 1+2; Behavioural Room 1+2) I've tried to work out why C12-14 is gray and not blue but honestly idk. The only difference I can see on the floor plan is that they're slightly tucked away behind some of the South rooms. The Pedes room is not on the board in S1.
X signifies a bed is free
ESI is the Emergency Severity Index (5 least severe to 1 most severe). 1-3 used most often which makes sense as an ED in a designated Trauma Centre. ESI 2 is shaded in orange and ESI 1 in red to see the severity at a glance.
MOST patients have a 4 letter name code - this is the first 4 letters of their surname. There are some exceptions that I'll get to later on.
Ages are color-coded by gender (blue for male, pink for female). I don't know if they have a protocol for non-binary patients, and there is no board visible when Tasha (the woman who gets misgendered) is being treated.
RVF is Reason For Visit
MD/APP (Doctor of Medicine/Advanced Practise Provider) tells you who is in charge of the case.
RN (Registered Nurse) is color-coded by nurse
Tests are then listed (EKG/Lab/Radiology(?)/Meds)
Comments are in the final column - mostly next steps/status while awaiting a move/consult/results
Admittedly, the fact that I can glean this much info from a grainy screenshot considering I have 0 medical training tells you that maybe they should chill on all the personal info up for everyone to see but hey, I don't know how HIPAA works.
(episode 4)
During the MCI, the boards are switched to a Code Triage screen. Once the MCI is declared to be over and the ED slowly reopens, the board fills back up fairly quickly as patients are scanned into the boards system, but we do get a quick shot of it fairly clear.
(episode 12, episode 14)
Time for some details!
In Ep1 there's a continuity error where Trinity's patient in Central 8 is being treated by Dr Shah (the character's original surname before it was changed to reflect her being Filipina) - this is corrected to Santos a few scenes later.
McKay's hyperkalemia patient (Otis Williams) is on the board as OTIS instead of WILL. When we first see him on the board there is already a patient in North 2 called WILL so that's likely why his first name is up instead of his surname, but considering we never meet the WILL patient and this is all fictional... I do wonder why they did it lol what was the point.
The first shot we get of the board is at 6:55am. The day shift doctors are all already on the board even though it's not even 7am yet. For example, Mel has 2 patients already but has yet to meet Abbot and Robby so she has cases without ever speaking to an attending. Honestly I think this is mostly down to saving the show from having to introduce night shift doctors for the morning handover lol.
Patients in the hall are not on the board. I don't know how their cases are logged for everyone to see, couldn't tell you. Just an observation.
(episode 1, episode 1)
The boards are placed so you can see them from most places at a glance. The ones we see most often are the 6 screens above the central hub. There are also 2 screens behind the North nurses' station.
(central nurses station: episode 5, north nurses station: episode 2)
Boards are also available on the computers too - Trinity pulls it up on a mobile workstation in Trauma 2, and Perlah can be seen working on the board at Central when she takes over from Dana in Ep10.
(mobile workstation: episode 1, central nurses station: episode 10)
There is also a second screen that can be seen above the Central and North nurses' Stations. We never get a good close up of it but it has the names of other staff on call as well as their contact extensions and page numbers. On the right of this screen you can also see that RNs are assigned to specific beds (Princess 1-4, Perlah 5-8, etc.), but this isn't followed in the show so idk what's going on there, sorry!
I wish this was clearer because I think there are some potential easter eggs in here (eg. Team Two assignment called Ambar like the actress who plays nurse Kim), but unless we get a better shot in Season 2 who knows.
(episode 10)
POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 AHEAD!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
In this interview Noah and Katherine gave to ET Online, we get a quick shot of the board in Season 2. The layout is the same but we do get some info on what patients/cases are in and who is working where. It appears to be during the filming of Ep5 as the time on the board reads 11:43 am.
(ET interview x)
The new attending, Dr Al-Hashimi, features on the board several times, as does the new nurse Emma. The new med students (James and Joy) are not on the board.
Langdon only features on the board once treating a freezer burn with an ESI of 3 (low severity). The note next to his case also states 'needs MD/APP assessment'. The only other doctor with this note is Whitaker who will be an R1 in Season 2, so we can assume Langdon's probationary measures will include needing someone else to assess his cases and give approval as if he is an intern (oof).
Mel is the only other doctor to only feature once on the board. Mohan/Santos/Whitaker/McKay/Robby all have multiple. So what's that about, huh?
Whitaker's patient in South 15 with a toothache is a 65 y/o male with a surname starting CLOV... we've seen Louie Cloverfield's trailer on set and it was mentioned in a caption for a promo photo that Langdon bumps into him so... Frank Langdon you are destined for the S2 torture nexus sorry hon :(
The Safe Haven baby is being treated in Pedes (which doesn't even feature as a room on the S1 board!)
So there you are! I probably have more to say and will post about it again because I'm a sucker for little details I can zoom in on and analyze but I'll leave it at this because I'm tired and writing this breakdown is causing me to have a breakdown.
dennis - raging mommy issues - whitaker meeting dana - i like taking care of everyone, especially the ones who fall through the cracks because they got nowhere else to go - evans
trinity santos managed to attract every hot woman in the er, uncover a drug diversion scheme, infiltrate princess and perlah's chismis operation, perform a successful reboa that all the senior residents and attendings are now gossiping about, and put a roof over a homeless sopping wet kitten's head, all on her first day on the job
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