It Took Over 130,000 Sets of Scrubs to Keep ‘ER’ Running

On the hit medical drama 'ER,' actors wore real scrubs when portraying a realistic hospital environment. Over 100,000 scrubs were used throughout the show.

by Grant Mack

Published on October 20, 2020

2 min read

ER is a TV show adapted from a 20-year-old script written by Jurassic Park. The show is a production of NBC and aired for the first time in 1994. Over the 15 years of its run, the show won 22 Emmy Awards. It is undeniably among the most successful NBC series to air on our TV screens.

The shows’ actors are not static, and new cast members joined the show over the 15 years. George Clooney, Noah Wyle, and Anthony Edwards are among the many characters to feature in the show.

The show primarily focuses on the lives of medical staff assigned to a Chicago hospital’s emergency room. The show illustrates the hectic lifestyle and intense stress of ER doctors. It also focuses on the excitement the doctors feel after saving lives and their interaction with various patients.

‘ER’ uses several sets of scrubs

Parminder Nagra as Neela Rasgotra | Kelsey McNeal/NBCU Photo Bank

The ER medical series directors assigned Lyn Paolo the job of designing various scrubs for the cast. According to The New York Times, she worked for 15 years to ensure that the characters have the best on-site medical scrubs.

According to Mental Floss, ER used over 130,000 sets of scrubs over its 15-year run.

‘ER’ used medical equipment to create realism

The primary aim of the show is to illustrate the working environment in the emergency room. In an attempt to do that, the cast members need to memorize medical procedures and terminologies.

The show succeeds in capturing scenarios that real emergency doctors go through in their line of duty. It manages to show the situation at an emergency room and the medical staff’s overall hectic lives.

Medical equipment such as medical scrubs, N95 masks, medical gloves, and masks creates a real hospital environment. The ability to create an illusion that aims to make a character appear injured, burned, bloody, or filthy is something the show casts intelligently.

Additionally, ER medical series was able to adopt the latest medical equipment and techniques in the movie. Incorporating intelligent features in the medical field helps create relevancy to the world we live in today.

Medical shows donate their medical supplies

Besides ER, they are numerous medical movies to feature on our screens. Some of the most notable ones include; Grey’s Anatomy, Good Doctor, Chicago Med, Casualty, House, Code Black, The Night Shift, New Amsterdam, The Resident, and Station 19. All medical shows use real medical supplies and equipment to illustrate real medical situations in their shows. They procure masks, stethoscope, surgical gloves, N95 masks, gowns, among others for their casts.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most medical facilities had insufficient medical supplies to manage many patients. Most of these medical shows had an innumerable number of essential medical supplies, and they donated them to the hospitals.

Grey’s Anatomy decided to provide their on-site medical gowns and gloves to the medical facilities. Station 19 also decided to donate their N95 masks to the hospitals. Others, such as Good Doctor, are also offering help to the real hospitals with their medical supplies.