The Contemporary Deathbed

How do we picture ourselves dying? A 'death with dignity', the darkened room, and a few murmured farewells? Or in the lights' flashing, siren wailing, chest-pumping maelstrom of the back of an ambulance hurtling towards an ER? Over the last decade, the two most robust vehicles of popular culture: film and television, have opted for the latter scenario. This book examines the hi-tech death of the twenty-first century as enacted in our hospitals and as portrayed on our TV screens.

Auteur
JOHN TERCIER is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, USA. He is an emergency medicine specialist and cultural historian and has practised and taught in Canada, the USA, the UK and the Middle East. His continuing research examines the influence of the media on medical practice.

Texte du rabat

How do we picture ourselves dying? A 'death with dignity', the darkened room, and a few murmured farewells? Or in the lights' flashing, siren wailing, chest-pumping maelstrom of the back of an ambulance hurtling towards an ER? Over the last decade, the two most robust vehicles of popular culture: film and television, have opted for the latter scenario. This book examines the hi-tech death of the twenty-first century as enacted in our hospitals and as portrayed on our TV screens.

Contenu
Acknowledgements List of Acronyms Foreword Introduction PART ONE: THE PARADIGMS The Death-With-Dignity: The Fantasy Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: The Protocol The Royal Humane Society: The Method PART TWO: THE TECHNIQUES Defibrillation: Scintilla Vitalis Mouth-to-Mouth: The Lips of a Corpse External-Cardiac-Compression: Beating a Dead Horse PART THREE: THE FANTASIES The Media: Getting it Right? Conclusion: Modern Living, Modern Dying Notes References Index