Topic: Nerve Damage, book, medical thriller, Minneapolis based

[patentlymn]

I do not usually read thrillers. I could not put this down. It involves ER docs, cops, sex, murder, etc. Written by an ER doc.
I was at North Memorial for an appointment and the author was selling the paperbacks as he does once per year to benefit some foundation.
Damn! I dare not pick up the other two titles I bought. This guy is addicting. It is set in the twin cities which is interesting.
https://www.amazon.com/Nerve-Damage-Tom-Combs/dp/099033600X/

Nerve Damage
byTom Combs

   Kimberly
5.0 out of 5 starsExplosive Medical Thriller!
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2019
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Nerve Damage is simply an exceptional Medical Thriller. After 15 years in the medical field, both pre-hospital EMS, Helicopter Medevac, and in-hospital ER, ICU, CCU, and NICU, I find it challenging to enjoy a good mystery or thriller based in a medical setting. They are often inaccurate, falling woefully short of reality or blatantly hyped and over the top. Well, CHALLENGE MET!

Dr. Combs knows how to weave an intricate, fast-paced story, with well-developed characters and suspenseful plot-lines. When you combine the elements of a great story and present them in an accurate, authentic, and realistic medical setting I am all in! I can't wait to read the next book.

Two things that really stand out to me about this author:

1. He has found a unique way to balance the technical, medical and clinical aspec's of the setting, and present them in a way that is clear and understandable for a wide audience, while still providing readers "in the field" an authentic and credible read.

2. It is obvious that Dr. Combs has great respect for the other professionals and support staff that work in the medical field, as well as those in law enforcement, EMS/fire-rescue, and aviation.

[Libertas]

About Tom Combs
Amazon Bestselling author.
John Grisham introduced legal suspense and thrills to the mainstream - Tom Combs has done the same with the world of medicine.
Tom worked as an ER physician for 25 years in busy, inner-city level one trauma centers. His experiences in that desperate, tragic, and heroic setting inspire his suspense-packed stories.
The protagonist in his series was recently described as follows:
"Physician Drake Cody once betrayed people he loved and it led to tragedy. Now his commitment to protecting others pumps through him like his lifeblood. His awareness of anyone being victimized compels him to act - even if what he must confront appears certain to destroy him."
Each book in the Drake Cody series immerses the reader in the emotion of authentic, life-or-death action and exposes crime and intrigue in healthcare, law, and big business. They are stories involving characters readers care about and realities that affect us all.
Tom is a member of the International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime writing organizations
Tom lives with his artist wife in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and is deep into the next book in the series.
Contact him at tcombsauthor@gmail.com or visit www.tom-combs.com

Well, there are only 2 "inner-city level 1 trauma" hospitals in the Twin Cities - HCMC in Minneapolis and Regions in St.Paul so he had to have worked at one or both in his career...and HCMC probably sees more gunshot wounds.

Statewide there are 3 others: Mayo in Rochester, St.Mary's in Duluth and Sanford in Fargo/Moorehead.  The "30 minute rule" is met by having more Level 2 and critical transports have to get to a 1 or 2 in those 30 minutes, (Pediatric has 3 metro - Hennepin, Mpls Children's and Regions/Gillette...and Mayo out-state) and there are 2 more of those in the Metro and a few more out-state and some on borders (LaCrosse, Sioux Falls, Grand Forks) that serve 2 or more states.

I'll have to consider this author, thanks for the heads up.

[patentlymn]

I know nothing about medicine. Prior to this summer I was last overnight in a hospital was for tonsils as a kid.
North Memorial says they have a level 1 trauma center. They are in Robbinsdale.
My only comparisons were clinics over the years and the ER at Unity in Fridley and one ER at St.Johns in Maplewood.

The teamwork at North really impressed me. The Nurses really impressed me.They were a cut above those in clinics it seemed.
I was put on an overflow floor my first days, an oncology floor so I got even better nurses. I thought the whole staff had Dale Carnegie training. Later I thought they could train the trainers. The first person to impress me that way was some skinny black guy, maybe named Troy, the transporter. North was better than most businesses I have dealt with in my life.

At other ERs I could have died in the waiting room or died in some office filling out paperwork. At north once they figured out I was in trouble (gallbladder) I was put in a room and THEN someone came in with paperwork. WOW.I was in a CAT scanner real quick.
 
I had two IVs in and they got messed up and I was bleeding. Some woman with a central European accent came in. She replaced my elbow IV with some upper arm deeper IV in about two minutes. I felt nothing. The efficiency was impressive. While was there there was some medical helicopter crash, maybe from north.

When I was wheeled around I saw charts on the walls. SPC charts tracking falls, etc. etc. It seems they were tracking things like that and trying to minimize them. The few PAs seemed a little lost.   Half the MAs were very good. Half were slovenly and obese.

I am a negative, glass half empty guy. I was most impressed by North.

[Libertas]

My Aunt's on my mothers side were RN's, the eldest worked North ER for a couple decades, my sister is an RN in a metro hospital's Pre-Op/Post-Op.

I've never been hospitalized, my brother seems to be in at least once a year for something.

Metro ER's can be stacked and packed...mostly because a) inner city/density and b) there is a steady flow of indigenous and transient mental health traffic and c) the statistically supported full moon effect.  My outfit often goes on mental health divert (patients have to find another hospital) and only very rarely on medical divert.

[Pandora]

patentlymn, all the hospitals track falls.  Patients are identified as fall-risks, or not, by the color bootie-socks they give them.  Any person deemed a fall-risk is prohibited from getting out of bed *for any reason*.  Those who do not abide by their rules are restrained to the bed.

Falling is taken personally by staff (because they're gigged) and by hospital legal staff.

[patentlymn]

patentlymn, all the hospitals track falls.  Patients are identified as fall-risks, or not, by the color bootie-socks they give them.  Any person deemed a fall-risk is prohibited from getting out of bed *for any reason*.  Those who do not abide by their rules are restrained to the bed.

Falling is taken personally by staff (because they're gigged) and by hospital legal staff.

I am sure you are right. Falls was the only title I could make out on the many SPC charts posted on the wall as I was wheeled around. My only comparison is other businesses, ERs, clinics, and urgent care. North operated more smoothly than I expected.

My whiteboard stated whether i could get out of bed and with what assistance.

North was not perfect.  They have no GI docs so they contract out to MNGI. My laproscopy gallbaldder removal went smoothly.  BUT somehow my liver got infected, which took a long time to figure out.  Half the MAs were surly and slovenly. Eveyone else was very nice and efficient.  Nurses did most of the work and some were elevated into specialist positions. It seemed docs were hovering electronically in the back ground. I rarely saw an MD.  The male nurse who installed my PICC line on my second hopsital stay blew my mind.

[Libertas]

Falls one of  many in a harm index tracked by industry overseers.