Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq
by Hnida, Dr. Dave
- Used
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Used-Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 1416599584
- ISBN 13
- 9781416599586
- Seller
-
Severna Park, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
IN 2004, AT THE AGE OF FORTY-EIGHT, DR. DAVE HNIDA, a family physician from Littleton, Colorado, volunteered to be deployed to Iraq and spent a tour of duty as a battalion surgeon with a combat unit. In 2007, he went backthis time as a trauma chief at one of the busiest Combat Support Hospitals (CSH) during the Surge. In an environment that was nothing less than a modern-day M*A*S*H, the doctors main objective was simple: Get em in, get em out. The only CSH staffed by reservists who tended to be older, more-experienced doctors disdainful of authoritythe 399th soon became a medevac destination of choice because of its high survival rate, an astounding 98 percent. This was fast-food medicine at its best: working in a series of tents connected to the occasional run-down building, Dr. Hnida and his fellow doctors raced to keep the wounded alive until they could be airlifted out of Iraq for more extensive repairs. Here the Hippocratic Oath superseded that of the pledge to Uncle Sam; if you got the red-carpet helicopter ride, his team took care of you, no questions asked. On one stretcher there might be a critically injured American soldier while three feet away lay the insurgent, shot in the head, who planted the IED that inflicted those wounds. But there was levity amid the chaos. On call round-the-clock with an unrelenting caseload, the doctors prescription for sanity included jokes, pranks, and misbehavior. Dr. Hnidas deployment was filled with colorful characters and gifted surgeons, a diverse group who became trusted friends as together they dealt with the psychological toll of seeing the casualties of war firsthand. In a conflict with no easy answers and even less good news, Paradise General gives us something that we can all believe inthe story of an ordinary citizen turned volunteer soldier trying to make a difference. With honesty and candor, and an off-the-wall, self-deprecating humor that sustained him and his battle buddies through their darkest hours, Dr. Hnida delivers a devastating and inspiring account of his CSH tour and an unparalleled look at medical care during an unscripted war.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Paper Garden Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- PGB0001572
- Title
- Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq
- Author
- Hnida, Dr. Dave
- Format/Binding
- Paperback
- Book Condition
- Used-Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10
- 1416599584
- ISBN 13
- 9781416599586
- Publisher
- Simon & Schuster Paperbacks
- Date Published
- 2011-05-17
- Size
- 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.44 inches
- X weight
- 16 oz
Terms of Sale
Paper Garden Books
About the Seller
Paper Garden Books
About Paper Garden Books
Paper Garden Books - 'growing a future from the books of your past'.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...