Critical: Between Life and Death

A life-threatening head injury from an assault and an open leg fracture from a motorcycle accident both require urgent surgery to prevent the worst.

As the surgical teams discuss options, the air ambulance rushes to help a patient who has been diagnosed with a polytrauma — the worst level of injury.

The operations unit dispatches an ambulance for a construction worker who sustained a laceration to his wrist after falling through a pane of glass.

The family of an assault victim wrestles with how much the trauma has altered his personality after the critical care team wakes him from his coma.

A team of orthopedic surgeons prepares for high-risk pelvic surgery, where any margin of error could cause permanent nerve damage.