Doctor on Everest: Emergency Medicine at the Top of the World - A Personal Account of the 1996 Disaster | 
 enlarge | Author: Kenneth Kamler
Publisher: The Lyons Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $6.49
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Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 534725
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 316
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 1585745995
Dewey Decimal Number: 910
EAN: 9781585745999
ASIN: 1585745995
Publication Date: September 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Publisher's Overstock, Excellent Condition, may have remainder mark
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Product Description
Leading up to the disastrous 1996 climb in which Dr. Kenneth Kamler played a crucial role aiding survivors, Doctor on Everest is the account of how lives are saved-or lost-in perilous conditions. Through this intimate, gripping, and often humorous account, Dr. Kamler describes what life was like on Everest - how he treated his fellow climbers for everything from altitude sickness to pulmonary edema; how he negotiated his dual role as doctor and climber; and how he reconciled is separation from home and family with pursuing his lifelong dream. In 1996, the medical situation on Everest became desperate. Kamler was faced with dire cases that would have been difficult under the best of circumstances-including Makalu Gau, who was found barely alive in the snow, and Beck Weathers, who was pronounced dead but later stumbled into camp clinging to life. Throughout, Kamler draws vivid portraits of his companions, including Rob Hall, leader of the New Zealand summit team, who died just below the summit in '96. Doctor on Everest puts the reader in the place of a climbing doctor and reveals what it takes for the human body and mind to function at high altitudes. (5 1/2 x 8 1/2, 316 pages, color photos) Kenneth Kamler, M.D. is director of the Hand Treatment Center in New Hyde Park, New York; attending orthopedic surgeon at several major New York hospitals; and vice president of The Explorers Club. He has been a climber on many Everest expeditions, working with National Geographic to carry out research and mapping. He has been featured on Nightline, 48 Hours, and CNN, and profiled in The New York Times and USA Today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 GREAT BOOK AND GREAT SERVICE December 15, 2008
Marina (Birmingham, AL USA)
I had read a lot of books on mountain climbing, especially Everest, before this one. This book was so interesting because it was written by a physician. In it Dr. Kenneth Kemler details the medical aspects of high-altitude climbing. It had a lot of information that I had not read any place else. Great service, too!
Doctor bragging about Everest September 12, 2006
James Davison (Nashville, Tennessee United States)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It takes a big ego to climb Mount Everest -- and Kenneth Kamler definitely qualifies. He's not ashamed to admit he's a topnotch New York microsurgeon with a beautiful wife and delightful children. He speaks many languages, has a huge practice, is adored by his nurses and hospital associates, magnanimously offers his services to the occasional pauper -- and yet still finds time to spend a few months every summer trying to climb Mount Everest. Well, he's never actually made it to the top -- or even to camp IV below the summit. And his role in the 1996 disaster was mostly to listen on the radio with everybody else, and administer first-aid afterwards. The flip side of being a compulsive egotist is also to confess to the myriad ills and weaknesses that make him human after all -- maybe in more detail than you really want. Having said all that, it's nevertheless fair to say that his story is well-written and gives a thrilling vision of life on the top of the world, where determined men and women see if they have enough grit and stamina to make it through the most grueling ordeal of climbing the world's highest peak. By the time you've finished reading the book, you might just decide that Dr. Kamler would be an interesting person to know after all. But if you really want to know what it looks like from the top of Everest, read the classic story of the 1996 disaster written by Jon Krakauer -- Into Thin Air.
--Auralgo
Another Good Story May 27, 2005
L. Gagnon (New Hampshire)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I say "another" because there have been many stories written about the people's adventures on and with Mt. Everest. Ken Kamler's story is a good one. I felt closer to his experiences with the challenges faced on Everest than other high-mountain climbers. The reason for this feeling was his description of facing realities and not making it to the top. I was tired of reading other author's stories and their successes. One could come away from reading several of these books thinking that Everest was something a lot of us could do. This is not reality. However, Kamler does persevere and does succeed and I applaud his focus and determination.
 A doctor's personal account January 2, 2005
David W. Cooper (Eugene, Oregon)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dr. Kamler lets the reader get to know him as a person, doctor and family man first. This let us feel a little more connected to Kamler as he journeys to a land where climbers test their mental, emotional and physiological limits. He also conveys how he feels about other the climbers rather than just give us descriptions of their personalities. All this makes for a truly personal account.
Kamler provides details of the seemingly mundane aspects of life on the mountain. The importance of timing when to take a shower to take advantage of the daily short period of reliable sunshine. Finding a melted chocolate bar mess in his pack when he stops to rest on the Western Cwm. Meals of crackers, oysters and jelly. These descriptions give a fuller view of life in such a hositle enviroment.
And, of course, the medical perspective makes this book special. Kamler's accounts of the challenges of high alitude medicine (both as doctor and patient) offer the reader fuller understanding of world mountaineering.
 Pompous wannabe adventurer doctor January 1, 2005
Humble joe (everest)
1 out of 19 found this review helpful
Kamler, makes me want to puke. this pompous, arrogant wannabe adventurer writes like he is gods gift to high adventure. Maybe being the onsite doctor is an excuse for not summiting. Perhaps a more noble pursuit would be to help innocent people that are injured without being self-destructive. In my opinion there is nothing more dangerous than a pompous arrogant doctor that fancies himself the guru of high adventure medical treatment. Go back to being a hand surgeon you [...].
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