A crane falls on a hapless mother of two, almost crushing her to death . . . A trauma victim of a helicopter crash desperately clings to life . . . A paralegal aide suffers a violent seizure from a cocaine overdose and gasps for breath . . . Welcome to the ER at Bellevue Hospital, the frontline trenches of medicine where doctors fight around-the-clock to save lives at a frenetic pace of quick decisions and real life-and-death drama.

Some three hundred people slam through these hospital doors every day. Gunshot cops, battered kids, drug addicts, and...