Kings Cross ER medicos treat the wounds to Sydney's underbelly

GEORGE Clooney set the sexy benchmark for ER medicos, but in Kings Cross it's the real deal.

Cross ER

THERE'S one TV stereotype the doctors of St Vincent Hospital's energetic emergency department are happy to let live on.

Long after George Clooney set the sexy benchmark for ER medicos, his real-life local equivalents - about to star in a compelling reality series for Foxtel - are keen to carry on his, ahem, fine work.

"I'm quite happy to live with that perception," Irish expat Dr Tim Stewart said, with a laugh, yesterday.

"Yes, it's one of the inclusion criteria when you go for a job here," added senior emergency staff specialist Dr Andrew Finckh. Besides displaying the clinical skills of these talented medical professionals, it's the good humour of these hot doctors that shades Clooney in the hero stakes and makes Kings Cross ER a must-watch.

The makers of the 10-part observational docu-drama series were given rare access to the department, turning the cameras on the 24-hour unit which services the real underbelly of Sydney.

The casualty list reads like a script from Channel 9's crime franchise, including gunshot head injuries, drug and alcohol overdoses and, to kick things off, a knife attack that leaves a 26-year-old man fighting for his life. But there's nothing glamorous about the damaged or vulnerable states their patients present in.

Despite  Daily Telegraph statistics that this week revealed revellers avoid CBD hot spots because of binge-drinking and violence, the doctors say it's just another day at the office for them.

"People take larger risks when they have alcohol or drugs on board," Dr Stewart said.

Kings Cross ER premieres tomorrow night at 7.30pm on Foxtel's Crime & Investigation Network.