Trauma Code: Heroes on Call

"Trauma Code:  Heroes on Call" (2025) has been a big hit for Netflix.  By ten days on the streamer it had topped the charts in 17 countries and top ten in 63 countries including New Zealand, France, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, India, Japan, Egypt, Peru and Chile.   Does that mean it is any good?  Some might disagree, but I think most (if you can handle some surgical blood) would find the series well worth your while

Baek Kang-hyeok comes across as a very arrogant, but talented trauma surgeon.  He encounters stiff resistance from hospital staff.  Over time he commands team cohesion as he really is focused on helping save lives.. 

His first surgery requires a helicopter rescue rappeling to reach the victim.  At one stage he takes over the helicopter, the first clue that his medical experience came under combat conditions

In a later episode he expresses a concern over organ donations as he has an urgent need.  A few times an organ donation is necessary for survival on the surgery table.  Baek feels families should be pleased to be able to save another human being.  He blesses those who contribute.

There is an ongoing power struggle between Baek and hospital directors that are more concerned about budgets.  Heroic and innovative measures increase Beak's credibility, but the administration is looking for any sort of malfeasance.  An ongoing battle we can see in our own backyard.

It takes a lot of people to keep your attention.  Here are a few.

Lee Do-yun was the director.  He has 2 director credits, 1 for writing and 1 for special effects.

Tae-Kang Choi was the writer with 2 writing credits.

Karim Debbagh was a producer for the Morocco segment.  He has 80 producer credit, 15 for production manager and 2 for directing including "A Hologram for the King" (2016) and "Beirut" (2018).

Ju Ji-hoon played Baek Kang-hyeok, the lead.  He was an award winning model before getting into films.  He has 29 acting credits including "Along with the Gods:  The Two Worlds" (2017) and "Hyena" (2020).  Hyena has one of my favorite laugh inducing scenes.  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/04/an-addiction-to-korean-tv-mini-series.html  Buried, but with a photo are two paragraphs on "Hyena" that mention one of my biggest laughs.  Ji-hoon has a few interesting quotes on IMDB and here is one:  "In times of borderless content sharing, it's gotten easier to observe and compare audience reactions. I find it both amusing and enriching to see how a single piece of content can set off such varied reactions depending on the cultural context of the audience."

Choo Young-woo played a protege for Baek.  He has 10 acting credits.

Shin Ha Young played a senior nurse.  She studied western painting at university and went on to study at the School of Visual Arts in New York.  She has 9 acting credits.

Yoon Kyung-ho played a staff doctor who initially did whatever he could to block Baek.  He has 85 acting credits including:  "Okja" (2017), "Itawan Class" (2020), "Vincenzo" (2021) and "Escape from Mogadishu" (2021).  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/04/escape-from-mogadishu-we-can-learn-to.html

Jeong Jae-kwang played a staff doctor.  He has 18 acting credits including "It's Okay not to be Okay" (2020) and "The Roundup" (2022).   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/its-okay-not-to-be-okay.html

Kim Sun-young played the Minister of Health and Welfare.  She has 49 acting credits including "When the Camellia Blooms" (2019), "Crash Landing on You" (2019-2020), "Broker" (2022) and "Our Unwritten Seoul" (2025).    See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/02/crash-landing-on-you-very-addicting.html and  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/our-unwritten-seoul.html

Kim Jae-won played a military doctor.  He has 10 acting credits including "Our Blues" (2022) and "King the Land" (2023).

In some accounts "Trauma Code:  Heroes on Call" is considered a comedy and it certainly has a lot of humor, but there are life and death moments.  There is no romance.

Available subtitled and dubbed on Netflix.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  The ones with links are among my favorite Korean films and a big part of my Korean obsession.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if any film is worth following up. The bolded films were mostly above average.

The Myth of Normal

Dr. Gabor Mate has a long history of exploring humans and the body mind connection.  What passes for normal in our society is neither healthy nor natural.  Most of us recognize that the world is very scary and the author traces much of the explanation to a lack of understanding of the body mind connection in our societies.

A key factor in his analysis is that addiction originates in childhood trauma and is usually multi-generational.  Addiction often refers to drug addiction, but can be any substance or activity.  Rather than focus on the addiction we should focus on what drove an individual to seek it or what reality to escape from.  He suggests that it will take some generations to overcome the stresses on poorly treated groups such as blacks and indigenous.

Mate does not dismiss genetic factors, but feels that other factors determine what is activated.  Throughout the book he tells of traumatic experiences that predisposes an individual to gain a wide variety of illnesses, mental and physical.  He feels medicine has neglected the mind/body connection.  

In addition to our personal family connections all of us contend with a toxic culture.  A big part of it is physical such as air and water quality, but also economic pressures, social environment and politics.  He mentions four politicians and feels Stephen Harper, Justin Trudeau, Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump all had trauma in their childhood.  He quotes Tony Blair who once said "Many public health problems are not strictly speaking public health problems at all.  They are questions of lifestyle:  obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases...they are the result of millions of decisions at millions of points in time"  This overlooks studies connecting trauma to these conditions.  A low social economic status steers many to bad decisions.  Political decisions certainly impact public health.  Capitalism tied to politics has increased its toxicity. 

The toxic culture starts before we are born.   Nutrition and the breathed air  prepare the mother.  Once pregnant those elements go directly to the fetus.  Stress felt by the mother also affects the fetus.  The author contends that the birthing process in the United States is not as healthy as in other parts of the world.  Once born the infant is subject to the stress of the modern world. 

There is a clash between the author's concerns about child rearing that he contends requires attachment and the right to be oneself with more strict advice from the likes of Jordan Peterson.  Certainly a youngster needs to deal with the "cruel" world.

The psychiatrist, Bessell van der Kolk quotes Socrates, "An unexamined life is not worth living".  As long as one doesn't examine oneself, one is completely subject to whatever one is wired to do, but once you become aware that you have choices, you can exercise those choices. 

There is a lot of meat to backup the author's thoughts.  He uses his experiences with his patients and with people you might be familiar with to make his point.  This is heavy reading.  His arguments are persuasive and should you heed his advice you will likely be happier and healthier.