Combat Hospital

I've tried a lot of new shows over the years, and have found one thing... as I re-watch early episodes of my favorite shows, rarely is a hit born overnight, and rarely would I have stuck with even my most favorite show (LOST) after the first few episodes alone.

There's a lot of ground work to be laid with Combat Hospital, but I like the casting,and am anxious to see some potential story lines evolve further. It has enough to engage me - I was looking forward to the second episode this week and sought it out deliberately.

Haven't said that about many shows this last year.

We'll see how it evolves but so far, it has my vote!

I also did a tour in Kandahar and I have to say the other solider who posted on here is a little dramatic. A little too Army I say. It's a TV show and they're doing they're best to tell life like stories of what goes on at Role 3. I was in KAF and Forward Op bases and all over the province of Kandahar. and spent some time in Role 3, they do a pretty darn good job of showing what it's really like there. I think the acting is good, stories are good and I really quite enjoy watching the show and hope they come back for a second season. And to my soldier friend below relax and don't watch it. Overall great show, keep it going.

Combat Hospital is where M*A*SH left off, in a way. I am expecting a HORSE-M*A*S*H episode with the old school cavalry (how Potter rode away to come back someday). In 1999, after eight years my being an EMT-P and starting Civilian /Military rescue training near Great Lakes ,Illinois. I had to go good-Samaritan leave(before 9-11)to take full time out from rescue and, cull the field(horse stock) of my horseshoeing business and care for my then 90 year old parents day-in-day-out. I always followed M*A*S*H re-runs. Then alone I moved back to New Mexico desert four years and found your show very, very understandable at my age 55+. I want to be on this shows' set someday. Though I do not yet see the charm form the Hollywood movie that led to M*A*S*H; COMBAT HOSPITAL is (and can be) more graphic as reality sets in for the brave, mobile and tactical army.

During the time this drama is set, I was deployed to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center as a member of the USAF medical corps. While a number of the depicted situations weren't perfectly accurate, they did portray the essence of combat medicine and captured many of the emotional dynamics as well.

I liked very much how the many conditions and dynamics of deployment were at least broached: insurgents, local terps, illicit recreational sex, lesbian (bisexual?)soldiers, military politics, reaching out to locals and some of the inherent trust issues that exist on both sides, and the heartbreaking violence requisite of life during wartime.

Not all kudos here, for the writing and character development could have been better, and had the tendency to lapse into stereotypical characterizations, i.e., arrogant surgeon (Dr. Hill), idealistic internist (Dr. Trang), over-achiever female surgeon (Dr. Gordon), and no-nonsense commander (Dr. Marks). Also a number of plot twists disappointed for their already-done expectedness in other media.

I appreciated this show and its complex elements; of course the medicine wasn't perfect nor were the uniforms/military protocol, but all in all, it was a rather insightful look into military medicine at its finest--saving lives under the incredible pressures of war. Additionally, I do make the note which must be bared in mind: Hollywood (or Toronto), rarely depicts occupations and their intricacies accurately simply for lack of dramatic effect. It is the provenance of the creative arts to take license with 'the truth.'

All said, I enjoyed this show and was able to comfortably relive some events from my own life, which was an engaging experience. For a fairly comprehensive look into combat hospital life, check out the 2008 documentary by Terry Sanders, "Fighting For Life" filmed at stateside and in-theater military hospitals.

Finally, in reading the varied reviews here, I find the disinterest/criticism of certain comments to be less about the content of the show and more reflective a commentary on the American (and Canadian)public's apathy toward these wars and its less than one percent of Americans engaged in them. I hope some entity will find the wherewithal to reincarnate this show and bring this much-needed perspective back on air in the future.

My wife and I both served with the US Air Force medical services. This show is written with a very real understanding and sympathy for what all soldiers of any nation go through. It accurately presents every single emotion and emotional state the very real people who perform these jobs go through on a daily basis! It is presented with respect, compassion, honor and forgiveness. It reminds that courage is action in the presence of fear, and that faith is a choice in the midst of doubt. That in the end, it's all about people... and how we choose to treat them.

In Combat Hospital, it's not just the broken bodies that get healed.