M*A*S*H

Baby, It's Cold Outside - S7-E9

Factual error: While watching the Sonja Henie movie "Sun Valley Serenade" Colonel Potter says at one point of the movie "This is supposed to be where she does a triple axel and ends up in a split." Then he has to leave and says "Now I'll never get to see it." He wouldn't be able to see it until 1989 when Midori Ito from Japan was the first woman to complete a triple axel in competition, Tonya Harding was the 2nd woman to complete one and the only American woman. And I doubt Sonja Henie ever did anything as complicated as a triple axel even with her 3 Olympic Gold Medals.

Sonja Marie

Baby, It's Cold Outside - S7-E9

Factual error: As Hawkeye performs CPR on the hypothermic soldier, he pumps his arms from his ellbows. CPR is done by keeping the arms stiff and pumping with the whole upper body. Hawkeye as a surgeon would know that. Fun Fact: You can perform CPR one-handed in a pinch, but only as long as you keep your arms stiff.

Doc

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: True, but doing CPR the real way is going to likely seriously injure the actor it is being performed upon.

LorgSkyegon

Explaining why mistakes occur does not invalidate them.

Bishop73

Chest compressions can definitely be performed by pumping from the elbow, one or two handed. The first documented use was in 1891, so Hawkeye would be aware of it. However, modern CPR standards, including straight arm procedures, were not developed until at least 1960 by the American Heart Association. Using straight arms and bending at the hips uses the larger muscle groups of the core and legs, which provides more control, as well as stamina. This is not an error for the Korean War era.

Additionally, what Lorg said - you don't want to hurt the actor, you can see his shoulders rise as his arms straighten, giving the illusion of compressions. There is another episode where Hawkeye is performing chest compressions similarly, and yells at the unconscious patient that his arms are getting tired, which is what would happen with bent elbow compressions, and one of the reasons modern technique uses straight arms.

I didn't know that, but it makes sense that CPR procedures would evolve. You should submit that as a direct correction to my mistake.

Doc

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen - S11-E16

Other mistake: How did Hawkeye Pierce, a surgeon, know how to drive a tank? It is nothing like driving a car and takes skills, training and experience that a surgeon simply would not have. He wouldn't even be able to start the engine.

More mistakes in M*A*S*H

Sometimes You Hear the Bullet - S1-E17

Henry Blake: All I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war, and rule number one is that young men die. And rule number two is that doctors can't change rule number one.

More quotes from M*A*S*H

Abyssinia, Henry - S3-E24

Trivia: There were no American planes shot down over the Sea of Japan during the Korean conflict. It is rumoured that producer/director Larry Gelbart knew that, but wrote Henry Blake's death scene as he was very unhappy with the way Mclean Stevenson had left the show, and was determined to make it clear that there was no way he would be coming back.

More trivia for M*A*S*H

Ceasefire - S1-E23

Question: General Clayton says that he confirmed the news of a ceasefire with "CINCOMPAC" (according to the subtitles). What the heck is CINCOMPAC?

Answer: It is actually Cencompac for Central Command of the Pacific. It is like the headquarters for all military activity in the Pacific Region (Japan, Korea, Okinawa, etc. The newer version of that is United States Pacific Command (USPACOM).

EMTurbo

And the abbreviations were used mainly by the Navy. Especially CENCOMPAC.

Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Indo-Pacific_Command.

More questions & answers from M*A*S*H

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