The Emergency Room: Lives Saved and Lost - Doctors Tell Their Stories [Hardcover]

Dan Sachs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996

...a one-of-a-kind collection of thirty extraordinary, true stories of doctors in the ER...alternately hair-raising, heart-warming, and hilarious, they capture the chaos, hope, horror, and relief doctors face daily on the front lines.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The doctors who contribute to this collection know how to frame a dramatic story, since many of them?Ethan Canin, Susan Mates and Michael Palmer, among others?have published fiction. Sachs, an emergency-room resident in Chicago, shows his shrewdness in selecting such gut-wrenching pieces as one about the teenage mother who scalds her baby to punish its father for not staying home, and the ironic story of an elderly woman being examined in an ER after being raped when the rapist turns up there for treatment of scratches. One piece places us in a ghetto hospital during a shoot-out; another takes us on rounds with a doctor who recalls his medical mistakes. Then there is the tale of the teenage gang member with a bullet wound who flees the hospital before he has recovered, intent on revenge; and of another teenager who smuggles drugs by swallowing balloons filled with cocaine. Not all the pieces are interesting, and some are egocentric, but overall the collection will satisfy those addicted to TV medical series.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is a collection of true-life emergency-room experiences as told by 31 physician authors, such as Samuel Shem (The House of God, Dell, 1981) and Perri Klass (Baby Doctor, LJ 6/1/92). Each story in its own way reveals as much about the practitioners of emergency medicine as it does about the individual patient's crisis. The small triumphs, the gnawing frustrations, and the endless ebb and flow of the sick and dying are all illuminated in these daily dramas, which are played out in sometimes overcrowded, understaffed, and underfunded facilities. Unlike the vignettes of Emergency!: True Stories from the Nation's E.R.s (LJ 1/96), these longer selections reflect their authors' writing skills, sometimes giving this reader a sense of O. Henry by way of M.A.S.H. For health collections.?Anne C. Tomlin, Auburn Memorial Hospital Lib., N.Y.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316765929
• ISBN-13: 978-0316765923
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quick Fascinating Glimpses of Emergency Room Docs, February 22, 1999

By 

Daniel J. Maloney "Daniel J. Maloney" (Saint Paul, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Emergency Room: Lives Saved and Lost - Doctors Tell Their Stories (Hardcover)

Some twenty doctors offer stories of their times in their life when they served in the ER. Some quite touching; others brutal -- not just in the cases which presented themselves but also in the behavior of some of the doctors.One conclusion that I can't help to realize is that the "old boy's way" of completing ridiculous on-call hours is inhumane and should be changed and changed quickly. The impairment -- emotional and physical -- that many of these doctors suffered as a result of the length of their on-call hours caused some of them to treat patients abusively, perhaps even criminal. One doctor speaks of an uncooperative patient who needs stitches. Since he's tired and has no patience left, the doctor solved the contentious patient problem by threatening him and sewing his ears to the rails of the ER treatment bed while he proceeded to stitch the man's head.Interesting reading; provides a broad range of points of view -- professional -- speaking of their experience, challenges and downright blunders. Each story is very short and this is a great book to keep by the bedside to complete a bit at a time.Worth a look!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Gut-wrenching tales by physicians with a flair for writing., September 22, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Emergency Room: Lives Saved and Lost - Doctors Tell Their Stories (Hardcover)

True dramas from the E.R., some funny, some sad, some horrifying. And these docs can write. Contributors include marquee names such as Ethan Canin, Sam Shem, Michael Palmer, Perri Klass, & Richard Selzer. Other, "less well known" contributors have been recognized by the Pushcart Prize, Pulitzer Prize, & Best American Short Stories Anthology. As a fan of the television show ER, my interest in the book was piqued by the flattering review in Kirkus Reviews. Interestingly, the editor is himself an emergency room resident training in a Chicago trauma center (just like the actors in the popular television show). If you enjoy the TV show, you'll love this collection.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best book of ER stories, but it's good, March 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Emergency Room: Lives Saved and Lost - Doctors Tell Their Stories (Hardcover)

Most of the stories in this book are good; a few are great and a few are boring. While it is not as compelling as "Believe It or Not! True Emergency Room Stories" or "Emergency: True Stories from the Nation's ERs", it is definitely a book that you won't regret buying.