The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine [Paperback]

Jonathan Kaplan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2003

The Dressing Station is a searing portrait of devastation on the battlefield that "illuminates the consequences of war and the ambiguities of relief work at a time when these issues couldn't matter more." (Caroline Fraser, Outside) From treating the casualties of apartheid in Cape Town to operating on Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq at the end of the Gulf War, Jonathan Kaplan has saved (and lost) lives in the remotest corners of the world in the most extreme conditions. He has been a hospital surgeon, a ship's physician, an air-ambulance doctor, and a trauma surgeon. He has worked in locations as diverse as England, Burma, Eritrea, the Amazon, Mozambique, and the United States. In this story of unforgettable adventure and tragedy, Dr. Kaplan explores the great challenge of his career -- to maintain his humanity even when that option does not seem possible. The Dressing Station is a haunting and elucidating look into the nature of human violence, the shattering contradictions of war, and the complicated role of medicine in this modern world. "A unique mix of biography and reportage, both personal and clinical," it is "a rare insight into the mind of a surgeon." -- Sue Cullinan, Time "Eloquent ... Beautifully written ... Provides a startling glimpse of battlefield surgery in those conflicts that CNN does not cover." -- Abraham Verghese, The New York Times Book Review "Kaplan ... has a keen sense of the smaller moments that leaven the agonies of daily life." -- Julian B. Orenstein, The Washington Post

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Surgeon-cum-journalist and documentary filmmaker Kaplan travels to the edges of the world and back in this confident, gripping debut, a field doctor's tale of life and death on the front lines. Journeying to the Middle East with an offshoot of M‚decins sans FrontiŠres (and in the process having much of his medical equipment mistakenly tossed from the back of a Marine helicopter into the mountains in northern Iraq), the South African native confronts the atrocities of the ongoing Turkish-Iraqi Kurdish conflict. Operating on floors, administering medicines by penlight, he saves a handful of refugees and loses many more, casualties "largely the victims of preventable suffering, inflicted by the policies and actions of their fellow humans." As a cruise ship doctor in the South China Sea, Kaplan treats crazed alcoholics and sets bones broken in brawls; later, he becomes a "flying doctor," traveling wherever in the world his surgical expertise is urgently needed. Eventually, he researches occupational contamination in South Africa and Brazil. From Namibia to Mozambique, Burma to Eritrea, Kaplan is an eloquent, observant narrator. And at the heart of these beautifully written adventures, a rich human drama unfolds as Kaplan makes superhuman efforts to uphold the Hippocratic oath: "I might have hoped that it would be possible to take a holiday from war even to have lost interest in it entirely but war, as Lenin had warned, remained interested in me." (Feb.)Forecast: Brave tales of traveling doctors might resonate more these day, as readers consider those who care for Americans and Afghanis in the world's newest war. But Kaplan presents himself not as a hero but as a historian of contemporary strife here there are none of the syrupy, self-congratulatory reflections that can plague the memoir and the adventure book both.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Trained as a physician in South Africa and London, Kaplan has had an extraordinary professional life as an emergency field surgeon on the front lines of apartheid in Nambia and Zululand, as well as in Kurdistan, Mozambique, Burma, and Eritrea. Between stints on those horrific battlefields, Kaplan served as a hospital surgeon, flying doctor, ship's medical officer, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. In this near-swashbuckling autobiography, he attempts to demonstrate his own humanity and professional fulfillment in the face of brutality and pain. Sometimes he focuses on front-line military medicine, other times on how civil war harms animals. Then there is the cruise ship experience, which almost reads like folly among drunken capitalists. Kaplan has indeed led an exciting life, but there's just too much here to absorb; the book lacks a guiding thread. An optional purchase. James Swanton, Harlem Hosp. Lib., New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st trade paper printing edition (January 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802139620
• ISBN-13: 978-0802139627
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #641,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Than A Surgeon, February 5, 2002

By 

Walter Lovelace (Stockholm Sweden) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine (Hardcover)

THE DRESSING STATION
A surgeon's odyssey
by
Jonathan Kaplan

If you are a committed traveller and but also demand to know what's happening behind the scenes of war, revolution and corruption in far-off countries, then THE DRESSING STATION by Jonathan Kaplan is your book. If you are fascinated by an insight into the horrors of surgery and medicine under appalling conditions then this book will suck you down into the grim awareness of every day life as it is for thousand's of people. If you want to know what it's really like to work for the international help organisations then this is one of the few books available.

This is a difficult book to put down. I wanted it to last much longer. Jonathan Kaplan writes as though he is in a hurry. In a hurry to explain why, since wisdom can never be learnt but only experienced, there will always be a need for dedicated doctors and workers in countries where tribal warriors and clan chieftains, outwardly civilised and often called politicians, are allowed by world opinion to slaughter and mutilate as many people as they like. Somebody has to help the victims regardless of which side they happen to support. Jonathan Kaplan seems always to be in the centre of things ready to assist the wounded regardless of who started the fight.

The first sentence of "The Dressing Station" reveals an awful lot about Jonathan Kaplan. "I am a surgeon, some of the time." Immediately you know that he isn't a snobbish specialist in London or New York. You will find out later that he is quite an ordinary person with the remarkable ability of heeling where heeling is most needed. Very soon you feel that he is the man you could have met in the pub, on a midnight ferry in Greece, in some remote village in a country at war.

Read "The Dressing Station" before setting off on your next backpacking trip. Take it with you to read on the boat or the train or on the beach. You won't regret it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Incomparable Jonathan Kaplan, March 23, 2002

By 

Jonathan Barry (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine (Hardcover)

I had the opportunity to see Jonathan Kaplan speak about his book at a reading in Harvard Square and to chat with him afterward. His unbounded dedication to exploring the developing world and to help remedy the vast horrors in these regions are nothing short of heroic. His experiences and insights provide us with a sharp glimpse into the medical challenges within developing nations while showing that those who stray from conventional paths can alleviate more human suffering in a short time than most of us will ever hope to over the duration of our lives.

Jonathan Kaplan is anything but "self-righteous, smug and sanctimonious," as one reviewer on this web site wrote. After seeing him speak, one realizes that he is the genuine article, a man who thrives on the chaos and challenges of saving lives in areas of the globe to where most westerners would not ever dare travel. When I finished his book, I realized that although the idea of humanity can take many forms, there are few humanitarians in this world who take the same form as Jonathan Kaplan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great story about modern wartime medicine!, October 25, 2003

By 

Traderjohn (Glendale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and Medicine (Paperback)

If you're considering a medical career and would like to learn more about medicine while reading a highly entertaining and engaging story, this it. The author tells a great story with great style. Most of the book revolves around a very non-traditional surgical career that probably won't be applicable to readers (unless you plan on working in war torn countries for a living), but it still fascinated me medically and professionally.

The only negative statement I can make (and this is nit-picking) is there isn't more pictures and maps. This is a true story about fascinating people and places explained in great detail. It would have been great to see what the characters and patients really look like. And most of locations are so foriegn that maps of the villages and battle fields would have helped me follow the story better.