24 Hours

"24 Hours" is the pilot episode of the medical drama series ER. It first aired on NBC in the United States on September 19, 1994. The episode was written by Michael Crichton, adapted from a screenplay he originally wrote in 1974, and directed by Rod Holcomb. The episode attracted 23.8 million viewers on its initial broadcast. Plot At Chicago’s County General Hospital, ER chief resident Dr. Mark Greene, asleep in an exam room, is awoken to tend to the drunk Dr. Doug Ross. A building collapse in the Loop brings a dozen critically injured patients to the ER. Most are successfully treated; Greene informs a man of his father’s death and the man breaks down. Greene meets his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Rachel, in the cafeteria. Jennifer reminds him of his appointment later that day for a potential new job with a private practice. Surgical student John Carter arrives for the first day of his ER rotation, and is assigned to Dr. Peter Benton. After a quick-fire tour, Benton demonstrates how to start an IV and suture before he is called away. The inexperienced Carter manages to treat a woman with a hand laceration and a man with anger issues who shot himself in the leg.