In the Blink of an Eye: Inside a Children's Trauma Center

Motivated by the 50,000 American children disabled each year, and by a realization of the profound differences between adult and pediatric trauma, Dr. Marty Eichelberger in 1980 established a revolutionary, technically advanced pediatric emergency unit at Washington, D.C.'s Children Hospital Medical Center and community outreach program, vividly described here by Doelp ( Stocktrauma , etc.). With keenly observed detail, conveying the life-and-death urgency, he follows several cases from the accident scene, transport often by helicopter to the emergency service for diagnosis and treatment by special teams, followed by rehabilitation when needed. The 95 percent survival rate among patients at the children's trauma center, notes Doelp, should justify a national network of such programs. First serial to Redbook, Literary Guild selection; author tour. (Mar.)