Episode 180 - Life Time

Season 8, Episode 180: Life Time
Original Air Date: 11/26/79
Written by: Alan Alda and Dr. Walter D. Dishell, M.D.
Directed by: Alan Alda

Wounded arrive, and one of them is a young man named George. He has a severe injury to his aorta, so severe that Hawkeye has to reach into chest--right there on the chopper pad--to pinch it off to stop the bleeding.

As if that's not difficult enough, having the aorta pinched off in this way is cutting off blood to George's spinal column. If that goes on longer than 20 minutes, he'll end up paralyzed.

As they load the young man onto a jeep headed for the O.R., a small clock appears on the screen, keeping real time as it passes.

B.J. and Margaret help Hawkeye, and he asks Klinger to round up as much ice as possible--thinking Hypothermia might buy them some time.

Another wounded soldier, named Harold, has a traumatic brain injury, and its clear he's going to die. While frustrated over not being able to do anything, B.J. gets the idea that perhaps, once he does die, they can take a piece of his aorta and give it to Hawkeye's patient--the only problem is, Harold could stay alive for hours.

While Father Mulcahy makes a run to the chopper for some much-needed blood, he asks his Lord, "If you're going to take him anyway, please take him quickly, so we can save the other boy."

After precious minutes go by, Hawkeye commits himself and removes the damaged part of George's aorta, in the expectation he's going to get a viable graft. Winchester questions this, but finally agrees when he sees for himself that George's aorta is so damaged it can't be repaired.

But eventually, the other young soldier, Harold, dies, and B.J. gets the graft, running it into the O.R. immediately. Hawkeye puts it in, but of course its not that easy--he wants to get blood pumping to the spinal cord, so he has to try and stitch it while the blood is coursing through it. We see some of that blood as it spurts up, out of the chest cavity.

When the surgery is over, they check their time: unfortunately, they're three and a half minutes over. Hawkeye is enraged, thinking they've all but certainly paralyzed the young man for life. B.J. tries to offer some hope, suggesting that the Hypothermia may have bought them some time.

Later that day, in Post Op, George starts to wake up. They yell in his ear, trying to get him to wake up. They uncover his feet, and run a pencil along the bottom of them, to see if they can move.

After a few seconds, they see them move, proving the young man isn't paralyzed, after all. Hawkeye, B.J., and Margaret squeal with glee, delighted all their extraordinary efforts have paid off.


Fun Facts: Another format-busting episode, since it is told in real time. Since there is no "B" plot, this works really well, and is directed with a crisp sense of urgency by Alda.

This episode was co-written by Dr. Walter Dishell, the show's long time medical consultant.

The scene with Father Mulcahy praying is really interesting--it looks like the camera was planted on the hood of the jeep, and so we see Mulcahy climb in, start the engine, and drive through the compound, all in one unbroken shot.

They make a big deal of Winchester having the right blood type to donate to George. That's fine, but the show already established (in Season Seven's "C*A*V*E"), that Winchester, Klinger, and Mulcahy all share the same blood type, so why not ask them?


Favorite Line: Nurse Kellye shows Hawkeye what aortic graphs they have on hand, but Hawkeye rejects them: "No, these are too small."

Kellye argues, pointing to one of them: "Well, this one's pretty big."

Hawkeye: "No, that's no bigger than a piece of spagatini. We need rigatoni."

Kellye: "Rigatoni? Doctor, I'm part Chinese and part Hawaiian. Can you put that in ethnic measurements I can understand?"

Hawkeye: "A small eggroll."

Kellye: "That I understand. We don't have any that big."