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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Insightful commentary on inequality in America’s health care system
challenging
informative
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
slow-paced
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
We all knew the pandemic was brutal on the medical world, and especially the ER. This book helped clarify the million of different ways it was hard-- from the overwhelm that many hospitals experienced (mask shortages, lack of ventilators, surges, etc.) to the minutiae of changed procedures turned took a well-functioning ER into chaos.
Ultimately, the book was less about ERs/hospitals during covid and more about inequality (race/poverty) in the healthcare system. The Emergency is an important book about a very important issue. Why do some people experience longer wait times and a lower standard of medical care. If we did not know what strata of society we would be born into, almost everyone would design a more fair/just system.
And yet we see great inequality. Inequality that has existed for years and that we seem unlikely to want to, let alone be ABLE to change.
The book alternates between chapters that talk about Fisher's experiences in the ER and letters he writes (but doesn't send) to patients. The letter chapters are where he discusses the inequality in the healthcare system. Ultimately, these chapters felt much more distant and impersonal and, for the reader, felt something like being on the receiving end of a lecture you didn't know you had signed up for. And they began to feel repetitive in nature. Overall, it's a very important topic, but I wish Fisher had found a more engaging voice for these chapters, one that drew readers IN instead of lecturing AT them. Overall, 7/10 stars and worth reading.
Ultimately, the book was less about ERs/hospitals during covid and more about inequality (race/poverty) in the healthcare system. The Emergency is an important book about a very important issue. Why do some people experience longer wait times and a lower standard of medical care. If we did not know what strata of society we would be born into, almost everyone would design a more fair/just system.
And yet we see great inequality. Inequality that has existed for years and that we seem unlikely to want to, let alone be ABLE to change.
The book alternates between chapters that talk about Fisher's experiences in the ER and letters he writes (but doesn't send) to patients. The letter chapters are where he discusses the inequality in the healthcare system. Ultimately, these chapters felt much more distant and impersonal and, for the reader, felt something like being on the receiving end of a lecture you didn't know you had signed up for. And they began to feel repetitive in nature. Overall, it's a very important topic, but I wish Fisher had found a more engaging voice for these chapters, one that drew readers IN instead of lecturing AT them. Overall, 7/10 stars and worth reading.
Part his experiences in the ER, part letters/lectures/commentary on health care, conditions in south Chicago. Overall, quite negative.