Publisher's Synopsis
As a scourge, fire knows no equal. Medical science may have conquered polio and may one day cure cancer, but fire and the injury it brings will always be with us. Indeed, heat inflicts a wound that ignites a terrible conflict within the body, transforming it into a raging machine intent on consuming itself. The specialized care burn patients require begins at the ER door and continues for weeks, months, and even years; burn treatment as it is practiced today gives new meaning to the term intensive care.Though each of us is just a spark away from being a burn victim, the public knows little and understands less about the world that patients inhabit. Pulling the curtains back on this private and sterile environment, Burn Unit is a riveting account of the frontline efforts--both modern-day and historical--to save lives devastated by fire. With unflinching urgency, Barbara Ravage follows an extraordinary team of healers at Massachusetts General Hospital, the cradle of modern burn treatment and the site of one of the best burn units in the world. From Boston's Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942 to the treatment of the victims of the Rhode Island nightclub fire in early 2003, we watch everyday heroes do their incredible but punishing work against the backdrop of history. Both a moving human drama and an engrossing scientific exploration of this little-known field of medicine, Burn Unit is an unforgettably powerful read.
