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Summary
Summary
A gripping portrait of trauma surgeons and their place in the controlled chaos of a trauma center, as told by a 40-year veteran of trauma care.
For all the awe-inspiring medical stories we might hear and the hospital dramas that dominate the ratings on television, most of us have no conception of the daily, Herculean efforts of trauma surgeons. A good trauma surgeon must be a conductor presiding over an orchestra of healthcare providers as their patients cling to life by a thread. They are also a steely quarterback who can't be rattled when they throw an interception--lingering on a past failure would only ruin their ability to care for the next patient, and the next. They have an encyclopedic knowledge of medical science and are practiced in the art of instinctively reacting to whatever emergency comes flying at them on a stretcher, in addition to doing anything they can to comfort patients' distraught families and friends.
All Bleeding Stops gives readers an intimate look at what goes on inside a trauma center, highlighting injuries sustained in car crashes, shootings, and stabbings--basically anything bleeding, obstructed, or perforated. Having lived and breathed trauma for four decades, Dr. Cohn is an ideal guide to demystify the role of the trauma surgeon and their place in a hospital. He pulls back the curtain to clarify such questions as: What exactly is a trauma surgeon, and what does one do? How does a trauma center function, and what really goes on in the operating room? How do you mold a medical student into a surgeon who can stay cool and act decisively when a patient's life hangs in the balance? His answers are infused with sobering tales from his career as a military surgeon and in trauma centers across the country as well as his descriptions of high-profile medical stories.
Author Notes
Stephen Cohn, M.D., is a former surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corp in Desert Storm, past Division Chief of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at Yale University School of Medicine, past Medical Director of the Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, past Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and current practitioner in New York City. He has also lent his knowledge as an educator and researcher, having produced more than 300 scientific publications, edited eight surgical textbooks, conducted extensive funded research, participated in many professional organizations, and served as an editorial reviewer for numerous journals. He is the recipient of Teacher of the Year awards at Boston University, University of Massachusetts, Yale, and Northwell Health and a Lifetime Achievement in Education award from the University of Miami Department of Surgery.
Reviews (1)
Kirkus Review
A veteran surgeon recounts what makes his career in critical care both rewarding and frustrating. Cohn chronicles the joys and pains of his work as a trauma surgeon in an illuminating, educational, and graphically descriptive tour of trauma centers and surgeons' role within the health care system. The author analyzes what makes a good trauma surgeon and creatively re-creates the arduous path toward becoming one--from a "long and grueling course of training" to hospital settings, where they are the "utility infielders for surgical emergencies." Cohn discusses the differences in trauma care centers across the globe, and he describes his time as a junior surgical faculty member in the U.S. Army Reserve in the 1980s. In 1990, he was unexpectedly deployed to Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. The author remarks that not every medical student in training has what it takes to be a trauma care professional. Patience, surgical agility, and rapid decision-making are crucial. Many times, surgeons like himself (and his father) often made decisions without prior knowledge of a patient's medical history or sustained injuries. Throughout the book, Cohn vividly illustrates these fraught, lifesaving moments. The author also intersperses patient care cases from his longstanding career, during which he had to cope with issues of improper protocol, the misconceptions of a surgeon's "technical brilliance," and episodes involving complicated gall bladders, hernias, stomach blockages, and other clinical conundrums. In addition to his personal story, Cohn delivers striking medical statistics on the prevalence of U.S. trauma incidents (100 million per year) and criticizes rising health care costs and how public health policies, gun laws, and poor ethics contribute to legions of disillusioned physicians and dissatisfied patients. The author's seasoned perspective joins with real-time medical drama in this memorable clinical retrospective. A well-balanced, eye-opening glimpse into the daily life, frustrations, and politics of a medical professional. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | 1 |
| 1 What Exactly is a Trauma Surgeon? | 11 |
| 2 Controlled Chaos at the Trauma Center | 23 |
| 3 Constructing a Surgeon | 33 |
| 4 Generalist Surgeons | 55 |
| 5 Saving Lives | 71 |
| 6 Dealing with the Worst Injuries | 91 |
| 7 Managing the Public | 133 |
| 8 Preventing Injuries | 173 |
| 9 The Operating Theater | 185 |
| 10 Are Surgeons Dangerous? | 201 |
| 11 Friends in the Trauma Trenches | 211 |
| Afterword | 225 |
| Acknowledgments | 231 |
| Notes | 233 |
| Index | 237 |
