Reviews for Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq

The average rating for Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-05-13 00:00:00 Nick Ruble Opening Line: "The last time I talked to my dad was on a sweltering April evening in 2004.It was a lopsided conversation. He had died of a heart attack almost thirty years earlier." Paradise General is the gripping personal account of Dr. Dave Hnida, an ordinary civilian doctor from Colorado who spent four months as a trauma chief at one of the busiest combat hospitals in Iraq. Staffed by reservist medics this modern day M.A.S.H unit consisted of a series of rundown buildings connected by tents, cement blocks and sandbags in the middle of the desert. For this forty-eight year old volunteer soldier the working conditions may have been sparse, but he and his fellow doctors managed to maintain a 98% survival rate. Using a form of fast-food surgery, they put the mangled bodies back together in a "get em' in get em' out" method that then saw them being airlifted out of Iraq for more extensive repairs. Their wounded often including the very insurgents that placed the American soldiers within their OR and the Hippocratic Oath was common place. If you made it into Paradise General his team would take care of you. Avoiding any political judgements "Dr. Dave" instead focuses on the care of his patients, his dislike of most things military and the diverse group of surgeons who become his new family. Told with a whole lot of self-deprecating humour we witness his frozen fear during his first shift and follow him through round-the-clock on call chaos, and inspiring dark hours. Throughout he manages to provide a level of humour and comedic relief to overcome the stress of putting IED maimed bodies back together, 130 degree heat, "foo-foo" coffee, threat of attack, and military madness that surrounds him. Hnida doesn't shy away from the blood and gore here and in doing so the reality of war and death is brought home. This book has been heavily compared to the TV series M.A.S.H and for good reason, as Hnida and his fellow surgeons use pranks and childlike misbehaviour as a prescription for sanity. His disdain for military acronyms and authority is another obvious comparison. Although (as another reviewer pointed out) it's more like the final seasons of M.A.S.H, when the comedy held a dark edge and Hawkeye's despairing introspection showed the true absurdities of war. Often told on a case by case basis a couple of chapters really stood out for me; "Anatomy Of A Trauma" which takes the reader through a hurry up and wait timeline… "09:12:00 the radio crackles. A firefight has taken place after an IED attack. Estimate two urgent casualties -arrival by helicopter in 25 minutes. Condition unknown -so we prepare for four patients and arrival in 10 minutes. Information is often muddled from a thundering helicopter." And "Blursday" which parallels Dr.Hnida's day in trauma with that of the missing "fifth guy" from a routine patrol, presumed dead after an IED blast took out their Humvee. Hnida finds him outside the OR smoking a cigarette in the moonlight without a scratch on him. I also appreciated the personal look we get into why Dave volunteered and the relationship he had with his veteran father, who only in death (and combat) was he beginning to understand. I honestly had a lot of trouble putting this book down; told with candor and boyish humour Dr. Dave manages to deposit you right into the heart of the 399th CSH and the hell that war creates and leaves behind. It will be a long time before I can forget what I've read here. 394jb5

Review # 2 was written on 2011-03-30 00:00:00 Jun Sato This is the story of an American physician who volunteers for two tours in Iraq. The story touches on his first tour and then goes deeper into his second tour where he is an ER physician working "just another day in Paradise". Some would think that because this is a book about a war and a memoir that it will be dull and boring, it is anything but. Dr. Hnida shares his thoughts about his dad, his practice in Littleton, CO, his daughter and the sights he saw while on tour. I love how he brought humor into an otherwise dark situation. He details the accounts of injuries to soldiers, who were the age of his children, from car and road side bombs, gunshot wounds and assaults and at the same time having to treat the very people who did the bombing, shooting and the assaulting. All physicians take an oath "to first do no harm", some who are not in the medical field may not realize how hard that oath is to keep at times. Dr. Hnida shows that he is truly a man who cares about humans and takes that oath seriously. The story also shows how complete strangers, the physicians and other medical staff, formed a great bond, were able to lean on each other during the dark times, and laugh during the good times even while in the midst of some unfortunate circumstances. I highly recommend this.