THE US producers of the medical drama ER - which has one of the highest viewing figures in the world - have enlisted the help of an expert at Liverpool's School of Tropical Medicine to advise them on their latest series.
Marielle Bemelmans was flown out to South Africa to spend six weeks filming on location with the cast and crew.
The 32-year-old Dutch-born nurse, who now lives in Liverpool, has considerable experience setting up emergency relief programmes at refugee camps in several African countries.
It was her knowledge and expertise in this field that the producers wanted to harness for a series of episodes in which the cast of doctors and nurses are transferred from the Emergency Room in Chicago to help at a field hospital in an African refugee camp.
"I would give advice on what type of diseases would be most common in this kind of setting, such as diarrhoea and hepatitis, how you could treat them and what type of equipment would be available," said Marielle, who was on hand every day to give advice to ER directors Christopher Chulack and Richard Thorpe after they set up the make-believe camp field hospital and began filming.
She also got to know and become friends with the cast including Noah Wyle, who plays Dr John Carter, and London-based actor Eamonn Walker, who plays the character, Steven.
"It was hard work for the crew who would be up first thing in the morning until late at night, but at the end of the day we would go back to the hotel, have a meal together and talk about what we had done and our different lifestyles," explained Marielle, who is programmes coordinator for the Liverpool Associates in Tropical Health.
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