This article was originally posted June 6, 2016. It has been updated with new information.
By Megan Wells, SA国际传媒 Contributor
It鈥檚 up for debate whether the 鈥渂est EMS movie鈥� has actually been made yet. The Hollywood take on EMTs鈥� lives shows a much different picture than what a true paramedic deals with day in and day out. Real EMS 鈥� monthly inventory checks, driving to (and sitting at) posted locations or writing reports 鈥� may not captivate an audience鈥檚 attention like a Hollywood dramatization.
Nonetheless, we鈥檙e going to take a stab at naming the best 鈥� and in some cases, most accurate 鈥� portrayals of EMS. Here鈥檚 our list of the seven best EMS movies of all time.
7. Ambulance
Michael Bay produced this 2022 remake of the 2005 Danish film Ambulancen. Jake Gyllenhaal and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II star as adoptive brothers who hijack an ambulance after robbing a bank. Eiza Gonz谩lez and Jackson White play a paramedic and police officer taken hostage.
6. M*A*S*H
鈥淢*A*S*H鈥� the flick (yes, we鈥檙e referring to here, not the TV series) is a trauma care movie with plenty of emergency medicine parallels. The film is about a unit of medical personnel stationed at a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War. We especially appreciate the dark humor.
5. Black Hawk Down
We thought this one worth mentioning for the realistic traumatic wound scenes. 鈥�鈥� is based on a series of articles published in about a 1993 raid in Mogadishu, Somalia, by the U.S. military. Real war stories mean real emergency medical scenes.
4. Mother, Jugs & Speed
This was made in the 鈥�70s, and fair warning, it鈥檚 not politically correct. But humor aside, the semi-realistic theme of competition between privately-owned ambulance companies in Los Angeles makes the movie an easy selection for this list.
3. Bringing Out the Dead
Maybe one of the most underrated Scorsese-directed movies ever, 鈥�鈥� is about a burned-out paramedic dealing with the demons of those he was unable to save. In the midst of his lowest point, paramedic Frank Pierce is faced with his own chance for survival.
2. 笔补谤补尘茅诲颈肠辞
笔补谤补尘茅诲颈肠辞 is a that portrays the day-to-day lives of four paramedics in different parts of the world and the different calls they go on. The film takes a candid approach to detail the uncertainty of a paramedic鈥檚 workday 鈥� its realism is what earned it a top spot on this list.
1. Tell Me and I Will Forget
Warning: This is a heavy film, but worth a watch. In this , filmmakers explore the social challenges in South Africa after apartheid, specifically the wave of violent crime that ensued. The documentary is told from a paramedic鈥檚 perspective to detail the pressure the medical system faced after the social changes.
How did we do? Are we missing your favorite EMS film? What movie do you think should earn the No. 1 spot?
