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.
Musemeche’s fast-paced medical history mixes the gritty reality of treating life-threatening injuries-including her own heart-pounding experiences as surgeon-with an unfettered optimism about what trauma care can now promise: an assurance that most people will survive even a devastating injury.
Hurt isn’t simply another life-and-death-on-the-streets compendium; it will entice you with the macabre, then take you back to school. . . . The writing is first-rate, and the stories should engage both medical professionals and amateurs who are fascinated by the process of putting the appallingly injured back together.
A fast-paced medical narrative perfect for people who like nonfiction . . . written in a way that’s as gripping as fiction.
Hurt is filled with astonishing stories that will inspire individuals from all walks of life, especially those in the medical field. . . . Hurt succeeds in telling its stories through the experiences of doctors and health care professionals as well as through the eyes of suffering patients and civilians.
Hurt is a fascinating journey through the history of trauma care in this country. Musemeche's unique ability to weave moving, personal stories with intriguing facts takes this book well beyond a great read. It is an education in the human spirit.
CATHERINE MUSEMECHE, MD, is a pediatric surgeon and former professor of surgery at the University of Texas Medical School. She is the author of Small: Life and Death on the Front Lines of Pediatric Surgery.
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