'The Pitt' gets emergency medicine right – that’s what makes it so unsettling

Noah Wyle and Charlene Hyatt in the first episode of The Pitt | Image Credit: Warrick Page/Max

After nearly 30 years in emergency medicine, Dr Rick Pullinger wasn't sure we needed another medical drama. But this real-time portrayal of an American ED is eerily familiar, compelling – and offers a scary glimpse of a possible future for the NHS.

Having spent almost three decades in emergency medicine, and held advisory roles for EM-based dramas, you might forgive me for wondering, "Do we really need another?"

Still, I approached the screening of the first episode of The Pitt, a medical drama set in a hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that stars ER-veteran Noah Wyle, with an open mind. I was ready for anything.

In its fictional post-Covid emergency room setting, the first episode lets the EM attending's day crash over you, with impacts familiar to anyone who has worked in this specialty.

This is perhaps best viewed as a crystal ball showing the dystopian future faced by emergency medicine in the UK