The heroic story of the invention of trauma care, from battlefield triage to level 1 trauma centers.
Trauma is a disease of epidemic proportions that preys on the young, killing more Americans up to age thirty-seven than all other afflictions combined. Every year an estimated 2.8 million people are hospitalized for injuries and more than 180,000 people die. We take for granted that no matter how or where we are injured, someone will call 911 and trained first responders will show up to insert IVs, stop the bleeding, and swiftly deliver us to a hospital staffed by doctors and nurses with the expertise necessary to save our lives. None of this happened on its own. Told through the eyes of a surgeon who has flown on rescue helicopters, resuscitated patients in trauma centers in Houston and Chicago, and operated on hundreds of trauma victims of all ages, Hurt takes us on a tour of the advancements in injury treatment from the battlefields of the Civil War to the state-of-the-art trauma centers of today.
Review
I went into this book hesitant and came out with a bewonderment that I can only imagine the author held while creating this. The entire story holds quotes and referenced facts, but it reads like you are sitting down in the author’s living room as she spills her heart about her passion and respect towards this field of study. The entire book reads like a comforting tale, but is extremely educational. I am the only one in my family that is not in the medical field and I am very excited to confront them with some of these stories into the history of their field and watch their minds blow. I am the most squeamish person which hints at my hesitancy to read a trauma care based book. It stayed clean, not being overly descriptive during some of the trauma care examples, so those in the same situation as me have no reason to be hesitant. I loved the direction this book took. It did not just focus on the outward appearance and stereotypical aspects of a trauma care, but it brought up the blood and guts (sometimes literally) of what brought it to where it is today. It touched on anywhere from the intertwining of wars and medical breakthroughs to seatbelts and airbags in cars. I looked towards this subject with a different color lenses that made me realize how much I was missing, which brought me a new appreciation towards this field. Thank you for an entertaining, educational read.