Publisher's Synopsis
The intensive-care unit (ICU) in any hospital is shrouded in mystery and driven by daily dramas, a world off-limits to most staff - and certainly to the public. It has an atmosphere in which the emotions evoked by death contrast with the joy experienced when a patient recovers. Deciding when not to treat a patient is one which ICU consultants make every day, in an environment where they know a third of the patients will die. Decisions they are forced to make often bring them into conflict with patients' relatives, and even their own colleagues.;Through specific case histories and anecdotes, this book explores the constant practical, ethical and moral dilemmas faced by ICU staff. Tied to a six-part BBC1 television series, it shows how an ICU functions, and how decisions between life and death are made.
