Patient Care:  Death and Life in the Emergency Room, Paul Seward 2018

Seward, an Emergency Room doctor for nearly 50 years, has written a fine book which gives the lay reader a real feel for the situations and stories that an ER doctor faces on a daily basis.  Sometimes compared to being a fireman, the ER doctor’s day (or night) consists of hours of the routine (“I’ve had this cold for a month now”) interrupted by moments  of high drama and the need for instant decision making and skilled intervention to save a life.  In a long tradition of physician-writers which includes Chekhov, Maugham, Dostoevsky, and William Carlos Williams as well as the more popular culture writers like Michael Crichton and Robin Cook, Seward writes about what he knows best—the Emergency Room. His stories sound like the conversations that I participated in at 10 o’clock supper at Mass General as a resident when old war stories were trotted out, but Seward’s tales are motivated and informed by his underlying philosophy that being a doctor is caring about the patient as well as caring for them.  In stories that vary from resuscitating a drowned child who goes home healthy the next day to the 79 year old Episcopal priest who signs out ‘against medical advice’ after suffering angina in order to attend a community service reunion where is being honored, Seward evokes laughter, tears, and a deep respect for the privilege and responsibilities of being a physician.  His explanations of complicated medical and technical terms are clear and helpful, and his humanity is a constant and powerful presence.  I would hope for a doctor like Seward when I’m wheeled into an ER with a serious problem.