‘The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call’ Recap, Ending Explained & Full Story

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The medical field offers such a gratifying, demanding, thankless, and noble vocation that you can’t help but get immediately hooked into a medical drama from the get-go. Even though viewers who are somewhat familiar with the genre already know that the stories are going to follow more or less a similar narrative pattern— focusing on an unorthodox lead who is miraculously skilled to take on increasingly challenging situations—medical dramas continue to be interesting and inspiring by upholding the core ideals of empathy and compassion. Netflix’s latest South Korean medical drama series, The Trauma Code: Heroes On Call, which follows a team of emergency medical responders led by an enigmatic, dedicated doctor who is willing to risk everything to prioritize saving lives, blends heart and humor to present an engaging narrative. The intrigue of the series focuses on a very universal problem of prioritizing monetary affairs over healthcare—providing an extremely relatable tone to the narrative.

Spoilers Ahead


How Did Dr. Han Reconcile With Dr. Baek?

To improve the deteriorating state of South Korean emergency healthcare services, health minister Kang Myeong-hui assigns her trusted Dr. Baek Kang-hyeok as the chief of the emergency response unit in the nation’s most prestigious medical facility, Hankuk National University Hospital. The former emergency unit lead, Dr. Kwon, who was the sole chief doctor of the unit, was overworked to such an extent that he fell ill, prompting a search for a suitable replacement, and the health minister stepped in to bring in whom she thought was a dependable individual. Baek is a brilliant medical professional whose unparalleled intuition, thorough medical knowledge, iron determination, and decision-making skills make him the perfect candidate to handle high-pressure emergency situations, even though he doesn’t have a high-profile background to show for it. As a doctor, Baek has formerly served as a member of the Peace Corps, and his service had taken him to war-torn frontiers of Syria and Afghanistan—treating patients under extremely hostile conditions—and it is understandable why the health minister considered him to be the right person to bring necessary reforms to the country’s healthcare. Possibly being a genius in his field of expertise, Baek is quite eccentric, who solely prioritizes the well-being of his patients and doesn’t care for propriety and decorum—which is something of importance to these hospital higher-ups. Baek’s devil-may-care attitude quickly results in him making an enemy of the chief of surgeries, Dr. Han; chief of planning and coordination, Director Hong; and chief overseer of the hospital, Director Choi. 

Since the very first day of joining, Baek has taken total control of the emergency unit—using unconventional and risky methods to perform surgeries on patients, frequently using a chopper to airlift patients and operate on them midair to not waste the ‘golden hour.’ Baek lost his father at a young age due to lack of treatment, which motivated him to dedicate his life to healthcare service. Baek’s methods lessened the mortality rate in the hospital drastically and were quite effective in turning around the overall situation for the better—but Director Choi, Dr. Han, and Director Hong continued sharing their grievances, citing the skyrocketing cost in the emergency unit ever since Baek took charge. Even though the government had spent a huge sum of money for the betterment of the hospital and the monetary issue wouldn’t have been a problem, the higher-ups were keen on undermining Baek’s influence any way they could.

Dr. Han used to be a person who believed in the supremacy of the existing status quo, propagating the ‘yes sir’ mentality and cherishing fame and recognition over what should actually matter to a doctor—saving lives. Quite naturally, Han clashed with Baek over a lot of issues a number of times, and the chief of surgeries decided to malign Dr. Baek’s reputation by digging up his past. Han became aware that during his years as a member of the Peace Corps, Baek had taken offers from the private militia Black Wings and had allegedly taken up arms against their adversaries—although in the flashback scene, it is shown that Baek had used firearms simply to distract enemies. Han plans to bury Baek by exposing this dark truth, until he becomes aware of the tragic news that his own daughter has been grievously injured following an accident—and it’s Baek who ends up saving her life by performing a critical surgery on her. Han finally realizes the importance of the emergency unit and why it needs people like Baek running it—who don’t let monetary clauses or other issues become a hindrance to their ultimate objective of saving lives. A grateful Han begins to support Baek’s cause, much to the chagrin of Director Hong. 


Baek’s Team: How Did The Good Doctor Restore Public Faith In Healthcare?

Despite having to deal with meddlesome internal politics and pushbacks from higher-ups, Baek made sure nothing got in the way of him doing what’s necessary, and he prepared a team of medicos who were as dutiful, skilled, and sincere as him. The first person whom Baek takes under his wings is Yang Jae-won, a junior doctor who was never supposed to join the emergency unit, but Baek’s diligence, exceptional skills, and drive motivated him to join his side. Baek recognized the contribution of nurses as Nurse Cheon Jang-min, a fifth-year student who had been handling the emergency unit for a long time due to a lack of manpower, finds a leading place in his team. Park Gyeong-won, a fourth-year student and skilled anesthetist, is brought to the emergency unit by Baek, as more than experience and status quo, the charismatic doctor puts emphasis on skill and the will to do the right thing. 

One by one, Baek and co. took on extremely difficult assignments, and as a leader, Baek taught the importance of decision-making by making some crucial calls. Like saving the lives of two siblings by using organs from their recently deceased father, without paying heed to protocol and unnecessary red tape. The team faced their biggest challenge when, following a horrific accident on a bridge, several dozen people got severely injured, resulting in the emergency ward getting filled to the brim with patients. Amidst this, three patients who were in near-fatal condition are saved as Baek trusts his team enough to perform critical surgeries, and he simultaneously attends to all three patients—working tirelessly throughout. This incident effectively makes Baek a national hero, and he uses the media coverage to his advantage to ask for necessary upgrades in the hospital and draw the attention of the health ministry. Hong and Choi are extremely frustrated with Baek’s newfound popularity, and Hong decides to destabilize Baek’s control. 


How Did Director Hong’s Plan Backfire?

Director Hong appeared to be extremely petty and vindictive as he put more importance on his rivalry with Baek than  the lives of patients. On one occasion, Hong ensured that Baek didn’t get chopper support from the National Rescue Unit, which resulted in the team having to travel by ambulance to retrieve a seriously injured patient—resulting in the loss of the golden hour of treatment. Dr. Baek was able to save the patient’s life by operating on him inside a moving ambulance, but the loss of crucial time resulted in the patient going into a vegetative state. Dr. Han had learned that Hong might have been involved in this conspiracy, and he shared the truth with Baek, which resulted in Baek getting engaged in a heated argument with Hong. 

To malign Baek’s reputation, Hong had lied to the grieving mother of the patient about Baek’s malpractice of operating inside a moving vehicle being the reason for such a predicament, and he even arranged a press meet inside the hospital to thoroughly discredit Baek. However, Baek was prepared as he uncovered the truth about Hong’s egotistical, malicious nature—that he had deliberately intervened and kept the patient from being airlifted to the hospital, which could have provided him enough time to operate properly. Hong faces severe criticism, and his career is put on the line as well, but he raises an issue by revealing his opinion that Health Minister Kang had shown  favoritism by appointing Baek at the hospital and using her power through him. 


How Did Kang and Baek Counter Hong’s Allegations?

Baek remains unbothered about Hong’s allegations, although Minister Kang needs to uphold a strong public image for her political career. She gets the chance to do so when Korean military captain Lee Hyeon-jong ends up getting shot multiple times by a rebel militia in South Sudan while protecting doctors of the Peace Corps. With the captain fighting for his dear life in a war-ravaged country, inside a dilapidated medical facility where basic healthcare is a fantasy, Kang entrusts Baek to use his expertise as a combat medic to venture to South Sudan and save Lee’s life. 

As Baek and his team reach their destination, they find Lee’s physical state to be worsening rapidly, and they need an air ambulance to save his life. However, the Korean health ministry isn’t able to provide one, resulting in Baek considering a desperate measure as he returns to his associate, Walter, a Black Wing private militia leader for whom he had pulled a number of favors in the past. Baek is able to save Lee’s life by operating on him inside the medical facility of Black Wing and using their air ambulance to bring the captain back to their homeland. Dr. Baek and his team receive a hero’s welcome; Kang’s public image is restored as well. But Baek and his team don’t have time to spare, as another new situation has propped up already. 


Was Dr. Yang Able to Become a Worthy Protégé to Baek?

Dr. Han has been handling the emergency unit in Baek’s absence, and as the team returns to Korea, Baek finds out Han is dealing with a fire breakout situation. While ensuring all the trapped victims are rescued in time, Baek sustains a severe injury in the form of internal burns, and while returning to the hospital, he loses consciousness. The responsibility to save Baek’s life falls upon his team—especially on the junior doctor, Yang Jae-won. Despite being a skilled and driven medic, Dr. Yang suffered from a sense of uncertainty and hesitation throughout his growing medical career. Baek had tried to strengthen Yang’s resolve by teaching him the ropes, and now finally, when the situation calls for it, Yang stands up to the task. Yang proves that he has been able to hone his decision-making skills by deciding to operate on Baek instead of sending him for a CT scan first, which could have worsened his injury due to delay of golden hour. Following a successful operation, Baek recovers, and he too realizes that possibly the most important thing he has done for the hospital so far is to prepare a team of medical professionals who are prepared for the worst-case scenario 24/7.

Speaking of Baek’s team, there is a subplot involving anesthetist Dr. Park, who is initially presented as spying on Baek on behalf of Director Choi. Nurse Cheon confronts Park about this during their time in South Sudan, but she realizes that Park was only pretending to be a spy for Director Choi so that the higher-ups didn’t feel the need to employ someone else to rat on Baek and bring problems for the emergency unit. Park himself was motivated by a sense of purpose, thanks to Baek’s actions, and he wanted to join the emergency unit full-time—something no anesthetist had wanted to do for a long time due to the grueling work pressure. 


Did Director Choi make amends with Dr. Baek at the end?

Following his recovery, Baek shared his plea to the ministry to arrange for helicopters to be exclusively used for medical purposes on live television, as it would be instrumental in shortening the time it needs to prepare emergency patients for treatment. Minister Kang approved the request in a press meet, promising to roll out medical choppers across the nation so that doctors don’t have to face delays getting caught up in unnecessary political entanglements. However, in the case of Hankuk Hospital, without Director Choi’s approval, it was impossible to build a helipad in the hospital and arrange for a chopper either. What’s more, Choi was adamant about continuing to oppose Baek, despite knowing Minister Kang supports his actions. 

Baek decided to visit Director Choi at his home, and ignoring his provocations and insults, he shared the real reason as to why he chose to join this particular hospital. Back when Baek’s father had met with an accident, Baek and his family faced refusal from every hospital in the city until they finally reached Hankuk Hospital, where a young Dr. Choi tried his desperate best to save Baek’s father’s life, to no avail. It was the actions of a driven, benevolent, compassionate Dr. Choi that motivated Baek to join the noble profession in the first place—but now he is disappointed to see the good doctor has lost his way and how. 

Baek takes his leave from Director Choi, and his words have a profound effect on him. Director Choi eventually approves the request for a medical chopper and helipad, and during the inauguration event, Minister Kang herself arrives to celebrate the moment with medicos of the hospital. Having reconnected with his past self, Director Choi put an end to the senseless rivalry he had with Dr. Baek. As the first season of The Trauma Code ends, Baek and his team already set out with their new chopper to attend to a rescue operation, and the episode concludes with a heartfelt acknowledgement to the contribution of the medicos worldwide. 


Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.


 

 

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