Contemporary Death Bed

How do we picture ourselves dying? A 'death with dignity', the darkened room, and a few murmured farewells? Or in the lights' flashing, siren wailing, chest-pumping maelstrom of the back of an ambulance hurtling towards an ER? Over the last decade, the two most robust vehicles of popular culture: film and television, have opted for the latter scenario. This book examines the hi-tech death of the twenty-first century as enacted in our hospitals and as portrayed on our TV screens.

Acknowledgements List of Acronyms Foreword Introduction PART ONE: THE PARADIGMS The Death-With-Dignity: The Fantasy Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: The Protocol The Royal Humane Society: The Method PART TWO: THE TECHNIQUES Defibrillation: Scintilla Vitalis Mouth-to-Mouth: The Lips of a Corpse External-Cardiac-Compression: Beating a Dead Horse PART THREE: THE FANTASIES The Media: Getting it Right? Conclusion: Modern Living, Modern Dying Notes References Index