Legacy Interactive announced that Emergency Room: Real Life Rescues is available at retail for Nintendo DS. In this new paramedic simulation video game, the player assumes the role of a rookie Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at a busy metropolitan hospital in Harbor City. The player must work up the ranks by successfully treating a variety of realistic medical emergencies such as cardiac arrests, car accidents, and deadly gunshot wounds. The politics of a financially struggling hospital looking to cut costs at every corner also weighs in on the action-packed game play. What may seem routine can escalate in a heartbeat and the player must be ready for the challenge.

At first, the player is assigned to ambulance duty with a senior paramedic. A brief introduction to the case is given while the player rushes to the patient’s location at the local park, neighborhood diner, etc. As soon as they arrive on the scene, the player assesses the patient’s vital signs and then stabilizes the patient as quickly as possible, using 25 medical tools that are found in actual paramedic ambulances. Each medical tool, e.g., cannula, oxygen mask, and leg splints, uses the Nintendo DS stylus differently on the touch screen to execute the procedure.

Emergency Room: Real Life Rescues includes 30 realistic cases ranging from basic first aid to life-threatening traumas. Initial cases have less serious implications and there are fewer medical steps needed to stabilize the patient. Later cases are more complex, however, and advanced medical tools such as a defibrillator, bag valve mask and inhalator are “unlocked” in order to successfully treat patients in the field. After successfully completing the more challenging cases, the player is promoted through the EMT ranks.

The senior paramedic is always ready to give the player a hand if they need help. The entire medical team of Harbor City wants to put their patients first, but it’s not clear how much longer they can continue to thwart the hospital administrator who is more motivated by profits than ethics. The intriguing storyline is told between cases, gradually revealing the secret frustrations of the hard working hospital staff.