Emergency Medicine Through the Pages of "One Call Away"

We spoke to Dr. Anne Biccard, an emergency medicine physician and accomplished author whose latest book, "One Call Away," offers readers a raw and insightful exploration of emergency medicine in Johannesburg.

Dr. Biccard brings her wealth of experience to life through captivating storytelling. "One Call Away" is the third instalment in her trilogy documenting her experiences in emergency medicine. What makes her writing so accessible is her ability to translate complex medical scenarios into relatable human stories without relying on confusing medical jargon.

Throughout the book, Dr. Biccard introduces readers to memorable patients nicknamed according to their predominant symptoms or characteristic "the eye roller," "the hairbrush," and others that populate the emergency department. As she explains, "We just look at what the predominant symptom is... so myself and the staff know who we are talking about."

Her storytelling has a refreshing authenticity to it. When asked about her favorite part of writing the book, she mentioned the challenge of selecting which stories to include: "I could just go on forever with different stories. But i don't want to bore my reader or tell them the same story over again."

A recurring theme in "One Call Away" is the doctor's battle to snatch patients from what she calls "the Grim Reaper." Dr. Biccard shared a particularly poignant example of intuition playing a crucial role in a patient's survival: "I just had a feeling that there was more...and luckily, he was in the ICU and he stopped breathing so we could intervene and get him back."

This constant dance with mortality is balanced by her life outside the hospital her farm and her beloved Snoopy dogs provide the sanctuary she needs. "I think if I didn't live on the farm, I would go completely insane," she admits, highlighting how these two drastically different environments help maintain her equilibrium.

The urban medical landscape of South Africa serves as more than just a backdrop for her stories. Dr. Biccard’s narrative encompasses the challenges of practicing medicine in a country dealing with infrastructure issues like load shedding and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, making her accounts particularly resonant for local readers.

The book also touches on the complexities of healthcare access in South Africa. Dr. Biccard explains the difficult reality of emergency care: "We can't refuse medical care if it's a life-threatening emergency...but if the patient has a broken leg and they are not unstable, you can move them on." She details the sometimes challenging process of transferring patients between private and public healthcare facilities.

One of the most striking anecdotes Dr. Biccard shared during the interview was about continuing to treat patients while suffering from appendicitis herself: "My stomach was sore, but I was still the only doctor on duty. So I first had to see to all my customers."

When asked about the key message she hopes readers will take away from "One Call Away," Dr. Biccard offered this simple but powerful insight: "Doctors are people too, and we're all on the same side. I'm as invested in saving people's lives as well, not probably quite as invested as they are in saving their own lives. But we do this job because we are electing to try and help."

"One Call Away" is available at local bookstores and online through the publisher, Jacana. More than just a medical memoir, it's a testament to human courage and vulnerability, revealing the extraordinary within the ordinary moments of emergency medicine.

Presenter: Jasnine Roberts

Producer: Lydia M