Ekstremalni. O bohaterach, którzy narażają życie, by ratować innych. - Dariusz Jaroń

Natural disasters, cataclysms, catastrophes, terrorist attacks, high-altitude accidents, dozens of victims and the injured—these are the conditions in which the heroes of this book work. Medical professionals who are ready to provide aid in the most extreme situations and locations, where not only the patient’s health and life are at risk, but also their own.

“Ekstremalni” tells the stories of doctors and rescuers operating where common sense dictates an immediate evacuation. Alongside the heroes of this book, we will travel to Szczekociny, shortly after the 2012 train crash; to Silesia, where in 2006 the roof of a market hall collapsed with 700 people inside; to the foot of Everest shortly after the devastating storm of 1996, we’ll stand at the finish line of the Boston Marathon immediately after the bombs exploded, we’ll visit a makeshift hospital treating soldiers wounded in the Battle of Mosul, and we’ll also visit Nepal shortly after a powerful earthquake and Beirut immediately after the explosion at the port.

Always ready for the extremes of the battlefield, the cruelty of terror, the destruction left in the wake of natural disasters, or the fragility of humanity when confronted with the power of nature all suggest that one can get used to anything, adapt, and assimilate many things—from knowledge to procedures and mental preparation. The hardest part is controlling one’s emotions enough to think first about helping others in extreme situations, rather than—in accordance with natural instinct—running for one’s life.

Extreme medicine is defined by circumstances. The simplest tasks that doctors and paramedics are accustomed to in a hospital setting, such as connecting a patient to an oxygen machine, become a real feat when a doctor or paramedic is working on the slope of a steep mountain or on a battlefield, where they too are at risk of losing their health or their lives.

This book is about such people. About rescuers and the practice of medicine without a white coat.

The book is written in Polish.

Technical details
Author: Dariusz Jaroń
Cover: softcover with flaps
Format: 150 x 215 mm
Year of publication: 2022
Number of pages: 400
Publisher: SQN