Minute Six

A visceral journey through emergency medicine and aviation by a doctor who has worked in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service and NASA

Professor Kevin Fong was flying with the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, making split-second, life-or-death decisions in the most extreme circumstances.

Military strategists have taught us that no plan survives the first five minutes of battle; but the battle rages on. What happens in minute six of a crisis?

Professor Kevin Fong was flying with the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, making split-second, life-or-death decisions in the most extreme circumstances when he was seconded to the NHS's Covid-19 Strategy Unit on the frontline of the fight against a global pandemic.

Telling stories of astonishing skill and catastrophic error across medicine, aviation and space-flight, and reflecting on his own dramatic experiences as well as those of war medics, pilots and surgeons, Fong brings us lessons from the frontline in leadership, teamwork, strategy and how to fail.