Meet Oleg Mironov (Aleksandr Yatsenko). He's a dedicated emergency services doctor. In US we call them EMTs. He and his wife Katya. (Irina Gorbacheva) a nurse, are deeply in love, although Katya is at an end with Oleg's drinking, a professional hazard here in the US. After a drunken scene at Katya's father's birthday party, Katya wants a divorce. At home Oleg sleeps on the kitchen floor.

Oleg has problems at work too. A new boss imposes a 20 -20 - 20 rule: 20 minutes to reach a call, 20 minutes to stabilize the patient, 20 missions per shift. All the docs/EMTs protest the change which runs contrary to individualized needs in the care of the particular patient. The boss is nonplussed.

When Oleg violates the rule, he fails to respond to a heart seizure and causes a death.

Well the crew drowns their sorrows at Oleg's apartment. Though there's friction in the house, Katya joins the party singing a teenage love song about love running hot in the summer at Yalta but growing cold in the autumn.

After the party Oleg and Katya in drunken bliss get it on. Afterwards responding to Oleg's suggestion that he might have gotten Katya pregnant, Katya tells Oleg she has had an IUD installed and can't get pregnant.

A pout follows. Oleg runs off but he comes back to reconcile.

Arrhythmia (Russian letters may differ) is Russian drama at its finest . Many commentators have said that it accurately depicts daily life of nurses and doctors struggling against the bureaucrat - ism of Eastern European Socialized medicine. The conflict between one - size - fits - all of mass produced medicine and the need for individual attention even permeates free market medicine. See the film.