Klaus Ratheiser has been working for over ten years in the intensive care field of medicine. In a simple straightforward language he now tells us a spell-binding story about patients and doctors, despair and new-found courage, breakdowns and moments of triumph. The thin red line which our life is.

Klaus Ratheiser on his book: "Anyone looking for television-style heroic doctor deeds and turbulent resuscitation is in for a disappointment. This is about the writer's experiences in hospital, about patients on the brink of death, about unbearable physical and psychological stress - about the final limits where one runs out of words and courage."

This book is about doctors with borders and their patients. It is about their sometimes desperate attempts to accompany, understand and help their patients against all odds and a harsh reality. About how when people from different cultural and religious backgrounds meet, fear of the unknown combines with fear of the alien. What are the priorities? How best to deal with one's fears of the unknown? - By devoting one's time and competence.

About the author:

Klaus Ratheiser was born in 1957.

After completion of his A-Levels he went on to study medicine in Vienna and Innsbruck, obtaining his doctorate in 1983.

His interest in intensive care medicine saw him at the Institute for Anaesthesiology at the University of Zurich Hospital. He then trained as a specialist for internal medicine at the Barmherzigen Brüder Hospital in St Veit an der Glan and finally in Vienna.

He has done research work at the University of Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, at Cornell Medical College in New York and was visiting professor at the University of Pisa.

He has worked in the intensive care unit of the University Clinic for Internal Medicine IV at the Vienna General Hospital since 1991, and was appointed its head in 1995.

He has been senior university lecturer for internal medicine since December 1998.