Disclaimer: stories in this article should not be considered a substitute for medical advice. If you are in distress or are having a medical emergency, please seek professional help. In support of the argument that watching TV can make you smarter, Grey’s Anatomy (season premiere Thursday at 9ET on CTV) is at the top of the list. The long-running medical drama has not only been entertaining fans for 16 seasons, it's also been making them smarter. Sure, watching Grey’s may not be enough preparation to ace the MCATs, but thanks to the show's dedication to weaving medical conditions, diagnoses and treatments into the one-hour drama, there’s a lot that viewers can learn in between hookups in the break room and long-lost sibling reveals.

After 16 seasons, it’s difficult to imagine there is any disease or disaster that Grey’s Anatomy has not covered, but the show continues to break new ground with each episode. Its commitment to showing the fantastical and factual has created a committed fanbase. Each episode is shot with a team of medical professionals on set to ensure the dialogue and acting are both accurate. In fact, fan favorite scrub nurse Bohkee is an actual surgical nurse in real life.

Just about every episode of Grey’s Anatomy includes new medical knowledge for viewers, but some episodes stand out for their life-saving lessons. Yes, there are some not-so-widely applicable lessons like how to handle sex with a ghost and why you shouldn’t smuggle a gun in your vagina, and then there’s proper CPR technique. After 317 episodes, it seems viewers have really truly learned from the show! From self-diagnoses that turned out to be medically accurate to stopping an attack as it happened, here are 10 Grey's Anatomy scenes that actually saved people IRL.

When April Talked Down an Attacker

One of Grey’s Anatomy’s most famous episodes featured a bereaved widower returning to the hospital to seek revenge for the death of his wife, who had died after being operated on by Derek Shepard (Patrick Dempsey). In the season six episode “Death and All His Friends,” the character Gary Clarke shot and killed several hospital employees, but April Kepner (Sarah Drew) managed to escape his bloody rampage by humanizing herself. After Gary shot Derek, he set his sights on April, but she quickly began telling him about her life, eliminating his ability to see her as simply a target. In 2018, Drew spoke at an event for The Rape Foundation and shared the story of a woman who was being attacked and believed she was going to be raped. The woman, who was honoured at the event by Drew, said that she successfully used April’s tactics of humanizing herself and was released by her attacker. 

When Demi Lovato Advocated for Her Own Diagnosis

Grey’s Anatomy has had several high-profile guest stars throughout the years. In season six, Demi Lovato played a teen who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. Lovato’s character continually insists that she has been misdiagnosed and finds an ally in Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), who eventually finds a small hole in her character’s ear which causes her to be able to hear all of her organs. The hole is patched and Lovato’s character no longer exhibits manic behavior. The episode earned Lovato a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Guest Star, but more importantly it was seen by a parent whose son had been experiencing similar symptoms. The mother took her son to an ENT where he was properly diagnosed and cured.

Owen Living with PTSD

During season five, viewers saw firsthand how PTSD can be devastating to those who have suffered unimaginable trauma. Owen Hunt’s (Kevin McKidd) PTSD from his time as a doctor in the US Army become a central storyline for the character. In episode 19, titled “Elevator Love Letter,” the whirling of an overhead fan triggers Owen and believing he is back in combat, he begins choking his girlfriend, Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh). This episode and Owen’s character arc, including his reluctance and eventual agreement to accept help from a mental health professional, helped many viewers who were either dealing with PTSD themselves or trying to help a loved one who has experienced trauma. In a 2009 Huffington Post article, writer Michelle Renee, who lectures medical professionals and university students about PTSD, applauded Grey’s Anatomy for accurately depicting Owen's experience with PTSD and for including Cristina in his therapy session. “Involving friends and family is a critical piece of the positive recovery puzzle,” wrote Renee. “More treatment centers need to incorporate family and friends into the treatment process, even if it is a once a month orientation.”

Bailey Learning About Her OCD

Grey’s Anatomy has a long track record of helping viewers gain a better understanding of mental health and illness. Most recently, Giacomo Gianniotti’s character Andrew DeLuca has been dealing with the onset of bipolar disease but one of the best examples of Grey’s Anatomy expertly handling mental health is with Chandra Wilson’s Miranda Bailey, who lives with OCD. Miranda’s OCD was first acknowledged in season 10 and after being diagnosed, the character refused to take medication, which she felt would be admitting she needed help. Writer Zachary Bishop, who has OCD himself, wrote in 2013 that Grey’s Anatomy has the “most accurate portrayal of the illness I’ve seen on television,” adding that the show and Miranda’s storyline encourages the “primetime audience to reexamine their perceptions of OCD.”

Every Time a Professional Does CPR

Sure, TV shows should not be the first place that people learn CPR, but they can act as a helpful reminder of the necessary steps to perform this life-saving maneuver. In 2011, two 10-year-old girls in Wisconsin performed CPR after one of the girls’ mother collapsed. The girls told paramedics that they learned how to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation and deliver chest compressions by watching Grey’s Anatomy. Their quick-thinking helped save the woman’s life, proving once and for all the screen time is not that bad. 

When a Patient Misinterpreted Breast Cancer as a Clogged Milk Duct

In the Grey’s Anatomy season three episode “Oh, The Guilt,” Miranda treats a patient who has breast cancer. The patient ignored the large lump in her breast because she was breast-feeding at the time and believed it was a clogged milk duct. Grey’s Anatomy fan Sarit Fishbaine, who had previously gone to the doctor after finding a lump and being told that it was a clogged milk duct from breastfeeding, saw that episode and went back for a second opinion. Fishbaine did have breast cancer and immediately began receiving treatment that saved her life.

Any Time Someone Has to Stop Bleeding

In 2019, a couple was walking their dog through a park in Atlanta when a 70-year-old man collapsed in front of them. The fall severed the man’s temporal artery, which caused excessive bleeding. The couple, who were longtime Grey’s Anatomy fans, took the knowledge they had gained from binging each season multiple times and acted quickly, using their clothing to apply pressure to the wound and slow the bleeding. Paramedics arrived soon after and said that had the couple not acted quickly, the man likely would have bled out. 

When an Infant was Diagnosed with Kawasaki Disease

Actor Sarah Chalke is best known for spending nine seasons as Dr. Elliot Reid on Scrubs and in the ninth season of Grey’s Anatomy, the actor returned to a fictional hospital, this time with a personal message. Chalke’s son developed Kawasaki Disease when he was only 12 months old. The disease is extremely difficult to diagnosis and only has a 10-day diagnosis window before devastating and often fatal side effects begin to set in. In the episode “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” Chalke played a single mother who was seeking a diagnosis for her infant son. The episode was written to help raise awareness for Kawasaki Disease and help parents whose children begin exhibiting the scary symptoms. Thankfully, Chalke’s son made a full recovery and it’s possible many other children also received the necessary treatment because of this episode.

All the Safe Sex and... Not Safe Sex

Grey’s Anatomy has covered sex in multiple ways and positions over 16 seasons. Thanks to Carina (Stefania Spampinato), we now know that labour pain can be lessened if the person giving birth experiences an orgasm. Yay science! In season three, viewers learned what not to do when having sex and that includes pairing an IUD with a genital piercing. In the episode “Oh, The Guilt,” a divorced couple who still enjoy hooking up with each other literally get hooked when the woman’s IUD is caught by the man’s genital piercing. The pair had to be brought into the hospital on the same gurney while still attached to each other. Admittedly, no lives were saved by this episode, unless you can actually die from mortification. Then yes, lives have been saved.

All That Medical Jargon

Understanding medical jargon and terminology can be hugely beneficial to patients who are receiving difficult news from their medical provider. After 16 seasons, Grey’s Anatomy has provided hundreds of opportunities for viewers to learn about different diagnoses and procedures, which undoubtedly has helped when they’ve had to understand their own medical information. Every Grey’s Anatomy viewer knows that if you cut the LVAD wire, the heart will get weaker. And we didn’t even have to go to school for an extra seven years!

When it comes to mental health, every action counts! Join the conversation on Bell Let’s Talk Day, January 28, and help create positive change for those living with mental health issues. For every text message, mobile or long-distance call made by Bell, Bell Aliant and Bell MTS customers, Bell will donate five cents to Canadian mental health initiatives. The same goes for every tweet or TikTok video with the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, watching the Bell Let’s Talk Day video on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat or TikTok, or using the Bell Let’s Talk Facebook frame or Snapchat filter. But that’s just the first step: Visit letstalk.bell.ca for more ways you can effect change and build awareness around mental health.