Emergency Doctor [Paperback]

Edward Ziegler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 2004

Hundreds of people slam through its doors every day: gun-shot cops, battered kids, drug addicts, and suicides, destitute drunks, homeless people, AIDS sufferers, and accident victims. It's a bizarre parade of humanity looking for help -- in the one place they know they can find it.

Welcome to the frontline trenches of medicine: the emergency room of the legendary Bellevue Hospital. Here, an army of doctors and nurses faces the onslaught of young and old, rich and ragged, sick and dying. All day, all night. All year. This is their story -- an around-the-clock drama of the unexpected: a crane falling on a hapless pedestrian; a crazed executive wearing two-thirds of a three-piece suit; a pretty paralegal aide struggling with an on-the-job cocaine overdose; a trauma victim of an East River helicopter crash clinging to life. It's terrifying, tragic, triumphant ... and true.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The emergency rooms at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospitalthe country's oldest municipal hospital, founded 250 years agotreat some 300 patients daily; three-fourths of the cases involve alcohol or drug abuse and a disproportionate number of the patients are paupers. It is a matter of pride for Goldfrank, director of the service, that no one is turned away, even as the department's resources are strained with indigent patients "dumped" from private clinics. With Reader's Digest editor Ziegler, Goldfrank and other Bellevue medical and housekeeping personnel recreate the somber, heroic, taxing work-a-day demands of saving lives under emergency conditions, including the lives of "regulars" like Eighth Street Eddie who needs to be deloused as well as treated and prisoners handcuffed to guards. The book is at once a social and medical document, overlong and, on occasion, tediously repetitious but gut-wrenching, heartwarming and instructive about the exigencies of this branch of medicine as practiced at the legendary institution. 25,000 first printing; $25,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

New York City's Bellevue Hospital is one of a dwindling number of American hospitals which care for everyone who comes to them, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. On Bellevue's front line is its highly acclaimed Emergency Department, directed by Dr. Lewis Goldfrank. This chilling account of the daily activity here is less a biography of Goldfrank than a paean to the staff of the Emergency Department, and an indictment of the American health care system. Accounts of some of the cases Goldfrank's team has treated are interspersed with the frightening facts about AIDS, cocaine abuse, and the plight of the poor in modern American cities. Fascinating and profoundly disturbing, this belongs in most public libraries. Susan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, Ohio
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060595027
• ISBN-13: 978-0060595029
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #577,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An idealistic perspective, August 2, 2000

By 

Isabelle "isabellec" (Burbank, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Emergency Doctor (Mass Market Paperback)

A very enjoyable, quick read. What struck me the most about this book was the differences in perspective since the time of it's writing (1987)--it mentions patients that complain about doctors wearing gloves when that is now standard, and expected, procedure. It describes the infancy of managed care and all it's depersonalization of those it's supposed to protect and care for. And most of all, it describes doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff who always put the patient first, who see their jobs as noble and go about it completely humble and without ego. Perhaps exposure to such tv shows as ER and Chicago Hope in more recent years have given laymen a more cold/cynical view of things, but some times the professionals in this book seem almost too good to be true. On the other hand, the emergencies described are fascinating and compelling.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Outdated, June 25, 2000

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BME - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Emergency Doctor (Mass Market Paperback)

Graphic and well-written, this book held my interest--most of the time. The different stories are extremely interesting, and at times, completely horrific. The maggots and lice had me swallowing bile. A wonderful look into what doctors and nurses REALLY deal with. I only have two complaints about the book. One is that it really slowed down when we weren't in the E.R. I skimmed over a lot of the doctors' personal and office life. My other complaint is that the book is outdated. Obviously, this can't be helped, but it was still annoying. In the 13 years since this book was written, so many medical advances have been made in different areas like AIDS and drug overdoses. If you don't care about all this, then the book will probably be a good read for you. I'm sure that the medical problems doctors see have remained the same, it's just that the treatments have changed. You'll still get a good idea about the horrors that show up at the emergency departments.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Emergency Doctor, August 21, 2004

By 

Chris "Chris" (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Emergency Doctor (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was mainly a teaching tool about the hospital noted int the title. Not a memoir about the life of an Emergency Room Doctor. Granted I did learn some new things, however if you have any medical training it is the same as what you were taught in classes.