In the Emergency Department

No. 6 OCTOBER 2014

A report of the busy and intense daily life of the Central Emergency Service in the largest hospital in the country, Santa Maria hospital in Lisbon, where hundreds of people are seen every day. Who are they? Why do they go there? And who are the health professionals who choose to work in a place where almost everything is unpredictable and the world outside never seems to call a truce? This book tries to portray the reality of an emergency service as it is. From the testimonies of patients, their carers and health professionals, it tries to glean a better understanding of what citizens expect of an emergency service and what kind of answers are given by a structure that, by definition, is there to provide healthcare to patients in urgent or life-threatening situations, but also ends up functioning as a “mega” health centre where you might have to wait a long time but the tickets never run out and there’s always room for one more. There’s room for everybody In this world of white walls. All the people, all the problems, health or otherwise. There are too many people in this world. This book tries to understand why.