BURN UNIT: Saving Lives After the Flames

Science writer Ravage delivers a fascinating and unflinching look behind the scenes at the nationally acclaimed burn unit of Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital. The reader is warned early on that the unit is "no place for the squeamish," and the book details numerous examples of the hard work that its doctors and nurses must perform, such as the excision of dead skin that "comes off like peels of rubber cement." But Ravage is never gratuitously graphic, and she displays solid research and reporting skills in presenting the historical and the personal sides of burn injuries. She provides an excellent historical context to the development of burn treatments, from Boston's infamous Cocoanut Grove fire of 1942 through last year's fire at a Rhode Island music club. She also uses the experiences of two former burn patients and their families (names changed at their request) to show in detail how doctors and nurses treat horrific burns. Her greatest success is in interweaving these two sides, such as her explanation of how ideas have evolved in the areas of respiratory injury, shock and the surface treatment of burn wounds, which brings the reader much closer to truly understanding what the patients endure. This is an enlightening look at an important area of hospital care. Agent, Lane Zachary. (May)