Mayhem and miracles: The life of an ER doctor

An attending physician shares his experiences of coordinated chaos

As an emergency-room doctor, you never know what's going to come through the doors. It could be someone with stab wounds, a baby in distress, traffic accident victims or an elderly man with pneumonia.

"The best part about being a doctor in an emergency department is the moment when you realize that you've saved someone's life," said Xu Jin, who has been an emergency-room doctor since July 2005, and currently works as the attending physician at Peking Union Medical College Hospital's emergency department.