What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: The Highs and Lows of an Air Ambulance Doctor

’During open-chest resuscitations, I’ve held a non-beating, recently stilled human heart in my hands. And, should you ever get to hold one, you will find the human heart to be rubbery and shockingly light.’

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? is a report from the front line of emergency medicine, the first ever account of what it is like to work as an air ambulance doctor. Whether describing cutting through a patient’s breastbone to plug a stab wound or barrel rolling a light aircraft at 5,000 feet, Tony Bleetman captures the sheer adrenaline of racing through the sky to save lives. You will learn how to land a helicopter on the side of a mountain, what it means to encounter death every day, and how to perform a tracheotomy in real life (clue: it doesn’t involve a ball-point pen).

Funny, shocking and moving, What Could Possibly Go Wrong? is a glimpse at a world where the wrong decision can mean the difference between life and death.

Originally published as You Can’t Park There: The Highs and Lows of an Air Ambulance Doctor.

Dr Tony Bleetman is a consultant in Emergency Medicine. A former Army doctor and a private pilot, he was one of the first Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) doctors who established the modern air ambulance network. In 2006, he was awarded the National Life Saver Bravery Award in recognition of his services.