City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

The emergency, a year of healing and heartbreak in a Chicago ER, Thomas Fisher

eng

index present

non fiction

The emergency

Thomas Fisher

a year of healing and heartbreak in a Chicago ER

As an emergency room doctor working on the rapid evaluation unit, Dr Thomas Fisher has about three minutes to spend with the patients who come into the South Side of Chicago ward where he works before directing them to the next stage of their care. Bleeding - three minutes, untreated wound that becomes life-threatening - three minutes, kidney failure - three minutes. He examines his patients inside and out, touches their bodies, comforts and consoles them, and holds their hands on what is often the worst day of their lives. Like them, he grew up on the South Side, this is his community, and he grinds day in and day out to heal them. Through 20 years of clinical practice, time as a White House fellow, and work as a healthcare entrepreneur, Dr Fisher has seen firsthand how our country's healthcare system can reflect the worst of society - treating the poor as expendable in order to provide top-notch care to a few. In The Emergency, Fisher brings us through his shift, as he works with limited time and resources to treat incoming patients. And when he goes home, he remains haunted by what he sees throughout his day. The brutal wait times, the disconnect between hospital executives and policymakers and the people they're supposed to serve, and the inaccessible solutions that could help his patients. To cope with the relentless onslaught exacerbated by the pandemic, Fisher begins writing letters to patients and colleagues - letters he will never send - explaining it all to them as best he can

adult