Emergency!

by Stephen B. Seager

Doubly burdened by the nonstop pressure of life-and-death decisions in the Emergency Room and their own personal conflicts, the Emergency Room medical staff including Dr. Michael Woods, a dedicated physician fighting drug addiction, struggle to carry out their jobs

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Stephen Seager was born in Ogden, Utah, descended from Mormon pioneers. He grew up in Daly City, California, a San Francisco suburb. Seager graduated from University of California at Davis and received his MD degree from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. He worked as an Emergency Room physician for ten years which inspired his first two books, and then returned to residency training for four years and became a psychiatrist. Seager wrote of his internship in Psychward: A Year Behind Locked Doors. Seager is a board-certified psychiatrist employed at Napa State Hospital in Napa, California. From this experience comes his newest book to be released September 16, 2014, entitled "Gates of Gomorrah; A Year with the Criminally Insane".
He lives in Northern California with his wife and son; they are all competitive badminton players. Four dogs and two cats have kindly consented to share their lovely home with Seager and his family.

Reviews

[Shelby Fair · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely more from the ER doctor's point of view, but it still struck a cord for me, and reminded me why I worked in the ER for almost 10 years. The ER is not so different, but SOOO different than it was in the 80's. I found this book at an antique mall. I'd say I'm glad I read it!

[Huguette Larochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

take very special peoples to do this job. they are heroes saving life ,

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doctors save lives. But that doesn't mean that they can write about it. Dr. Seager creates characters that are monstrous (Dr. Woods, an addict) as well as stupid (Jessie Leggett, a nurse who lies for Woods because she loves him) as well as emotionally wounded (Snake, a Vietnam vet) and throws them all together in an ER in the southwestern United States.

Seager accurately describes medical conditions and their treatment, but his characters aren't believable, they're two-dimensional. His disdain for religion comes through loud and clear on nearly every page and I should remind him that many doctors throughout history as well as today practice a religion of their choosing as well as practice medicine. But to a shallow-minded individual like Seager, medicine is the realm of the atheist.

Barbara Hunter, a Mormon, eventually leaves the ER due to pressure from her family and her conscience. The crew treat the child of Jehovah's Witnesses by secretly giving blood when the parents stated they didn't want this type of treatment. Let me assure Seager that this type of grossly immoral and unethical behavior is why doctors are sued for malpractice. If you don't know of alternative treatments to transfusion (and they existed in 1983 when this book was published, and are more prevalant now), then you need to re-read some of your medical school textbooks.

All in all, a waste of my time. I'd rather watch House.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book that I've read by Stephen B. Seager, M. D. It a fiction that takes place in the emergency room of a hospital in the southwest United States on the edge of the desert. I loved this book! I know that I've said it before about Psychward but it's so true about this book as well. The characters were brilliantly written and really showed the range of the human condition.


I waited quite a long time for this book to come through Bookmooch, but it was well worth the wait for me. I would give it an A++! if I could. Highly recommended!