A heavy reckoning : war, medicine and survival in Afghanistan and beyond / Emily Mayhew.

Collection type	Library
Author	Mayhew, E. R. (Emily R.), author.;
Call Number	616.98023 M469h
Document type	Monograph
Year	2017. 2017. copyright2017.
Pagination	311 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : colour illustrations ; 23 cm.
Publisher	Profile Books ; Wellcome Collection, Profile Books Wellcome Collection,
Note	"Welcome collection". Includes bibliographical references and index. What happens when you reach the threshold of life and death - and come back? As long as humans have lived together on the planet, there have been wars, and injured soldiers and civilians. But today, as we engage in wars across the globe with increasinglysophisticated technology, we are able to bring people back from ever closer encounters with death. But how do we do it, and what happens next?Here, historian Emily Mayhew explores the modern reality of medicine and injury in wartime, from the trenches of World War One to the dusty plains of Afghanistan and the rehabilitation wards of Headley Court in Surrey. Mixing vivid and compelling stories of unexpected survival with astonishing insights into the frontline of medicine, A Heavy Reckoning is a book abou t how far we have come in saving, healing and restoring the human body. But what are the costs involved in this hardest of journeys back from the brink? From the plastic surgeon battling to restore function to a blasted hand to the double amputee learning to walk again on prosthetic legs, Mayhew gives us a new understanding of the limits of human life and the extraordinary costs paid both physically and mentally by casualties all over the world in the twenty-first century.Published in partnership with the Wellcome Collection.WELLCOME COLLECTION is a free museum and library for the incurably curious. It explores the connections between medicine, life and art in the past, present and future. It is part of Wellcome, a global charitable foundation that exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas thrive.
Place made	London : London : London London

Abstract

Copyright Page; Contents; Introduction; The War in Afghanistan: Timeline; Part One: Afghanistan; Chapter 1: ''Blood is the argument''; Chapter 2: Scott Meenagh; Chapter 3: Mark Ormrod (1); Chapter 4: The Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT); Chapter 5: Th e Deal; Chapter 6: Field Hospital Camp Bastion (Bastion); Chapter 7: Mark Ormrod (2); Chapter 8: Bastion''s Medics; Chapter 9: History; Chapter 10: Critical Care; Chapter 11: Critical Care Air Support Team (CCAST); Part Two: Home; Chapter 12: Birmingham; C hapter 13: The Duty Critical Care Nurse; Chapter 14: Mark Ormrod (3) Chapter 15: Mark Ormrod (4)Chapter 16: Rehabilitation: Headley Court; Chapter 17: Sockets and Stumps; Chapter 18: Mark Ormrod (5); Chapter 19: A Short History of Headley Court and Its Garden (neither of which is as old as it looks); Chapter 20: Sockets an d Stumps and Pain; Chapter 21: PTSD (Trauma Reaction); Part Three: Beyond; Chapter 22: The Engineer: Dave Henson; Chapter 23: A Centre for Blast Injury Studies; Chapter 24: Mark Ormrod (6); Chapter 25: Sockets and Stumps and Science; Chapter 26: Complex O utcomes, Chronic Pain and PTSD; Epilogue: Medics; Notes; Acknowledgements. A Note on the PhotographsColour Plates; Index.