SOLD! Critical Care (by Zaher Sahloul)

I’m excited to share that earlier this week I sold Dr. Zaher Sahloul’s timely book Critical Care to Johns Hopkins University Press, where it joins a terrific list of public health and medical titles. Critical Care draws from the author's repeated aid missions in Syria, Ukraine, and other conflict zones to show how disaster-inflicted communities persevere, and what we can do to better prepare health professionals and humanitarians to operate on the frontlines in the future.

War is a massive critical care unit, in which civilians and communities alike go on life support and things can turn south quickly. As a Syrian-American physician in Chicago who has led medical missions to Syria and other disaster regions, Dr. Sahloul has witnessed extreme stories of resilience and determination: doctors and nurses building hospitals from scratch; evading regime brutality, torture, and imprisonment; performing sophisticated surgeries in operating rooms with only flashlights to see by; and treating children, women, and the elderly in rudimentary underground field hospitals in Aleppo, in caves in Idlib, and in Hama amidst the threat of falling bombs and sarin gas. Today, history repeats itself in the form of Putin’s attacks on medical facilities in Ukraine, and Critical Care opens and closes with the author's recent missions to assist Ukrainian healthcare on the ground.

This photo is from a Chicago Magazine profile called "The Combat Doctors," published after the three doctors returned from a mission in Aleppo. Dr. Sahloul is middle. © Jeff Sciortino

Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul is a Syrian American medical doctor, 2016 Chicagoan of the year, 2020 Gandhi Award recipient, and humanitarian, faith, immigrant, and civic leader. He co-founded the healthcare non-profit MedGlobal, where he still serves as President. Dr. Sahloul is considered an expert on the humanitarian crisis in Syria and applying the lessons learned to other disaster responses. He has appeared on NPR, CNN, CBS, NBC, PBS, and BBC, as well as in print in the NYT, Chicago Tribune, and The Guardian. Right now, Dr. Sahloul is continuing his important work with MedGlobal’s missions to aid earthquake victims in Morocco and the flood aftermath in Libya.

Here was the Publishers Marketplace deal memo:

Congratulations to Zaher and his editor at Johns Hopkins University Press, Robin Watson!