- When one soldier, George, needs an aorta within 20 minutes to avoid paralysis and another soldier, Harold, arrives brain dead but with a beating heart, BJ must decide if he should remove Harold's aorta to save George's life.
- Walter Dishell, M.D. (the medical advisor for M*A*S*H) co-wrote this episode with Alan Alda. An impromptu poker game at the chopper pad is interrupted by George, a patient who arrives from Battalion Aid with a purported open chest wound. Hawkeye diagnoses him with respiratory distress, too much gushing blood and a lacerated aorta. George may not even make it to OR unless drastic measures are taken. The pilot hands over his pocket knife; Hawkeye makes George's wound big enough to stick in his hand. Hawkeye wants to compress George's aorta against his spinal column to stop the bleeding. The biggest problem is if blood to the spinal cord is cut off for more than 20 minutes, George stands a good chance of paralysis or renal failure. Time is called: 1432 hours; a white clock appears at the bottom right of the TV screen. Hawkeye yells out for vascular clamps, his canvas tub, arterial grafts, ice and AB- blood. The clock ticks and ticks. There is no AB- blood. Margaret cannot find the clamps. Nurse Kellye cannot find a large enough arterial graft to qualify as a small "egg roll." Klinger brings more and more ice to fill the tub. The nurses scurry to scavenge or assist the doctors. The clock continues ticking. In the OR, Hawkeye is keeping George alive, literally, on ice. Charles is giving his AB- blood. But, in Pre-Op, BJ and Father Mulcahy have the spiritually agonizing jobs. BJ monitors young Harold Sherwood, a GI with a fatal head injury; Father begs forgiveness for praying the Lord take Harold quickly enough to save George. The clock ticks away without emotion. To save George, BJ has to take an arterial graft from Harold the minute his body dies. His brain has been dead for awhile. BJ also has to explain to Harold's angry buddy, Corporal Roberts, why he is hovering over his dying buddy. Klinger does not help as the clock ticks. Father Mulcahy helps BJ explain matters to Cpl. Roberts. Surgery is performed in the OR. Time is called again: Kellye reports 1455 and 25 seconds; they are 3 minutes and 25 seconds over the limit. Hawkeye is angry but BJ thinks the ice may have bought George some time. Will George, with aorta from Harold and blood from Charles, product of so much combined humanity and effort, be able to beat the clock?—LA-Lawyer
- Hawkeye and the gang have less than 20 minutes to replace a wounded GI's aorta graft or he risks being paralyzed forever. It just so happens a wounded man has just the graft they're looking for. Will they be able to save the GI in time? The clock is ticking (at a corner of the screen).—<Explorerds6789>
- Walter Dishell, M.D. (the medical advisor for M*A*S*H) co-wrote this episode with Alan Alda.
An impromptu poker game at the chopper pad is interrupted by George, a patient who arrives from Battalion Aid with a purported open chest wound. Hawkeye diagnoses him with respiratory distress, too much gushing blood and a lacerated aorta. George may not even make it to OR unless drastic measures are taken. The pilot hands over his pocket knife; Hawkeye makes George's wound big enough to stick in his hand. Hawkeye wants to compress George's aorta against his spinal column to stop the bleeding. The biggest problem is if blood to the spinal cord is cut off for more than 20 minutes, George stands a good chance of paralysis or renal failure.
Time is called: 1432 hours; a white clock appears at the bottom right of the TV screen. Hawkeye yells out for vascular clamps, his canvas tub, arterial grafts, ice and AB- blood. The clock ticks and ticks. There is no AB- blood. Margaret cannot find the clamps (they were in Hawkeye's footlocker in the swamp. He was holding them for safekeeping as they are the only clamps in the unit). Nurse Kellye cannot find a large enough arterial graft to qualify as a small "egg roll." Klinger brings more and more ice to fill the canvas bath tub. The nurses scurry to scavenge or assist the doctors. The clock continues ticking. Houlihan sterilizes the clamps and Hawkeye uses them to compress George's aorta, to free up his hands. Ambulance rolls into the compound and BJ takes over triage.
In the OR, Hawkeye is keeping George alive, literally, on ice. Charles is giving his AB- blood. But, in Pre-Op, BJ and Father Mulcahy have the spiritually agonizing jobs. BJ monitors young Harold Sherwood, a GI with a fatal head injury; Harold is not going to make it, and his aorta can save George. Father begs forgiveness for praying the Lord take Harold quickly enough to save George. The clock ticks away without emotion. To save George, BJ has to take an arterial graft from Harold the minute his body dies. His brain has been dead for awhile, but his organ could continue working for a few hrs. BJ also has to explain to Harold's angry buddy, Corporal Roberts (Kevin Brophy), why he is hovering over his dying buddy. Hawkeye puts the clamps and looks at the damage. George's aorta is too far shot and cannot be fixed with grafts. Hawkeye cuts away part of the Aorta, and is now committed to this course of action. without the graft, George dies.
Klinger does not help as the clock ticks, he rushes into PreOP to tell BJ to cut the Aorta from Harold as soon as he is dead. Father Mulcahy helps BJ explain matters to Cpl. Roberts. Surgery is performed in the OR. Time is called again: Kellye reports 1455 and 25 seconds; they are 3.5 minutes over the limit. Hawkeye is angry but BJ thinks the ice may have bought George some time.
Will George, with aorta from Harold and blood from Charles, product of so much combined humanity and effort, be able to beat the clock? George survives and is able to wiggle his toes, sending BJ, Hawkeye and Margaret over the moon.
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