A Life in Trauma: Memoirs of an Emergency Physician

by Chris Luke

Concern. Compassion. Doubt. Despair. Anger. Hope. Imagine juggling these feelings every day in a situation where your work could mean the difference between someone’s life or death. For Dr Chris Luke, a consultant in emergency medicine, these emotions are an intrinsic part of the job – ranging from rage at a system that often leaves vulnerable people waiting anxiously, to the incomparable satisfaction of relieving patients’ suffering and distress. This revealing memoir takes us on a rollercoaster journey from Chris’s days as an orphanage boy through to becoming one of the leading emergency physicians in the country. A Life in Trauma is a remarkable account of a career spent helping others, sometimes at a painful personal cost, and ultimately offers a positive perspective on the potential of Ireland’s healthcare system.

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction, Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2021

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review This book is Ambien in print. I keep drifting off into other worlds imagining... see what I mean. There's nothing wrong with the book it's just boring. The title suggests it's otherwise, 'trauma' and 'emergency' but really it's 'memoirs'.

There's no drama, just small stories. A guy comes into the ER and he's got on pink panties under his biker's trousers so they all have a laugh. He doesn't like people making plans for him so he finishes with his girlfriend. He finds a 'language barrier' when he goes to work in Scotland because he's Irish.

Apart from the mildly interesting and rather horrific story of his mother placing him in an orphanage rather than have the neighbours see she is an unmarried mother, there really isn't anything I found interesting and the writing isn't elevated enough to read it for that alone.

DNF after 8 chapters. It's not a bad book, and it's not badly written but ... Ambien! (Might be caffeine to you though!)
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Notes on Reading So far this seems to be about two traumas, his own very strange and senseless early childhood - brought up in a Catholic orphanage in Ireland despite having a mother who has a reasonably good job and a father who was at the top of his game. It seems to be that his mother was unmarried so she didn't want the neighbours to know she had a child although she visited him. Eventually, the orphanage closed and the children had to go home, and he had to call his mother 'aunty'. The other trauma is that he spoke out in a short interview of the state of over-burdened health service in his hospital and got disciplined and ostracised.

So, are we going to get on to the author's career as an emergency physician or is it going to be his personal traumatic life? Either way, it's quite well written so it's all ok.

[Rachel Welton · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the problems with a title like this is that you expect there to be a high medical content, with associated descriptions of lifesaving treatments. There were a small number of medical stories, but there was an awful lot more description of patient management and internal politics. Burn out in the medical profession is a big concern, and this is well described, however it was not what I picked the book up for, based on the title.

[Rachel Fellowes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this... An open, honest account of triumph over adversity by a great clinician and educator. I didn't work a lot with Dr Luke, but any time I heard him teach he made a good impression.

His book is also packed with nuggets of wisdom that will be invaluable to a coming generation of medics in dealing in a compassionate and empathetic manner with bith patients and colleagues.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an autobiographical book with the author sharing his life experience and finding his way to work in health care especially the emergency department and how broke the public health system is to provide appropriate support to those in need. I enjoyed his beliefs about investing time to getting to know the patients to make a more appropriate diagnosis and help them best he can.

[Donald Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

A gentle memoir, not particularly memorable. I’m always surprised people with job titles like ‘emergency physician’ can be so normal.

[Peter Thew · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting memoir that makes clear how much ER care has changed over his 40-year career. And yet so much remains unchanged - the desperate overcrowding, understaffing and lengthy delays in care. Dr. Luke is clearly passionate about his chosen field of profession and in later years his passion has gone too far and lead him into difficult and confrontational situations. He retired early amidst chronic burnout and the latter chapters of the book have a repetitive feel to them - and an editor's hand here might have improved matters. But a very worthy book.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A feel like a more accurate title for this book would be 'a personal journey through the contemporary issues of emergency medicine'. This book is really a reflection on the pros and cons of life as an emergency physician and the changes that should be made with a side dish of personal memoirs of life as an Irishman. Very little is told about the patients themselves or the things seen in the ED

[Lorna Duddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris Luke gives an insightful account of working in a pressurised under resourced environment. His personal and professional investment are articulated in addition to the toll it has taken. The reader gets his genuine devotion to treat and care for patients in addition to the impact of societal ills on himself, his colleagues and the system.

[Maz · Rating 4 out of 5]

He has such a beautiful view of the difficulties of front line healthcare, from the realities of being overworked, to understanding that each person in front of you is just that, a person. I was really struck by the thought and understanding associated with 'difficulty makes people difficult'. If only more doctors were like this

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and revealing story of a man who spent a great part of his life working in the almost intolerable conditions of ED in Cork .
Parts of it make for distressing reading as he explains the reality of conditions in the medical world .

[Tracey Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this raw, honest and fascinating memoir. Would highly recommend.

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

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[Helen Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Sevket Akyildiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique account of a former emergency doctor; the content is frank and educational.
Chris's memoir was insightful, detailed and thought-provoking.
Over 30 years, he worked very hard to help others and, therefore, has an informed, ethical, and passionate story to tell.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I made a bunch of notes about this book when I listened back in March, but do you think I can find them? No. I'm cross, because my notes documented the author's very particular insights on the combination of childhood trauma and then experiencing vicarious trauma in later life. I hope the notes turn up...


Anyway, to the book - overall, somewhat uneven. Luke championed many changes to emergency care and triage in the Irish hospital system, and was instrumental in how the effects of 'party' drugs were managed by paramedics and in emergency (giving him an unexpected media profile). His stories tell of under-staffing and over-crowding, but also of the dedication and compassion of the majority of doctors and nurses. By far the most curious part of this book was Luke's description of his childhood in an orphanage, where he lived so as not to bring shame on his unwed mother (who he spent holidays with, and called 'aunty'). It was this part that I wanted more of.