‘Boston EMS’ and 'Save My Life: Boston Trauma' reviews: New medical shows capture tense & real emergencies

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Friday, July 24, 2015, 4:59 PM

TABLOIDS OUT; NO BOOK PUBLISHING WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL,; NO ARCHIVE; NO RESALE.

BOSTON EMS
Saturday at 9 p.m., ABC

SAVE MY LIFE: BOSTON TRAUMA
Saturday at 10 p.m., ABC

3 stars

Terence Wrong’s new documentary medical series, a twofer this time, feels a little different from his past shows. But it still has a lot of what has brought him millions of fans.

“Boston EMS,” which debuts Saturday, and “Boston Trauma,” which moves into the slot right after “EMS,” focus on emergency medicine.

That means a race against time — to stop the bleeding, or save a damaged limb, or determine whether a knock on the head has caused brain damage before it’s too late to do anything about it.

It’s tense, dramatic, sometimes tragic and sometimes heartwarming, and producer Wrong — whose past series include “Hopkins,” “Boston Med” and “NY Med” — tells a crisp story.

He also knows when to pause and savor a side moment.

One of his subjects on “Saving My Life” Saturday has a non-threatening injury, a long cut on his arm where he punched some glass.

The reason, it turns out, was frustration with his girlfriend, and he has a whole soliloquy on the troubles a woman can cause a man. Wrong wisely lets the camera roll.

Other cases are more serious, like the firefighter whose leg is nearly severed in a motorcycle crash. We follow him through the lifesaving part and well into rehab.

That’s always been Wrong’s strong suit: letting us get to know his subjects, whether they’re doctors or patients.

At least in the early episodes of “Trauma,” it feels like there’s a little less of that and a little more jumping from case to case.

“Trauma” also includes a couple of brief reenactments, illustrating what led to an injury. They’re not terribly intrusive, they just make the shows feel a little different.

Just don’t skip the relationship advice.