Combat Doctor

December 16, 2013
In 2009, Dauphin served as the commander of Kandahar Role 3 Multinational Hospital, then under Canadian control. His tour coincided with an unprecedented wave of casualties, despite which the unit managed a 97% survival rate. The author takes the reader through life at a combat hospital in a harsh climate at the end of a long logistical trail, where sophisticated techniques are undermined by simple lack of supplies and doctors are forced to allow some to die to save others. The author's account is illustrated with a variety of anecdotes, some humorous, others horrifying, all demonstrating a genuine humanitarianism. The jocular tone belies the human cost the author's service demanded, as the section on post-traumatic stress disorder reveals. Also provided are four highly informative appendixes on combat zone medicine and related subjects. The author's subject matter is fascinating and his service to Canada must be respected. Sadly, his text often falls short; catch phrases are overused, successive chapters seem repetitive, flaws that stronger editing could have corrected. Despite those shortcomings, this is a book that demands attention.