Cardiologist Ali debuts with a poignant account of the 1978 Waverly train disaster, which killed 16 people and injured more than 200 others when a freight train passing through Waverly, Tenn., derailed and a tank car containing nearly 30,000 gallons of liquified petroleum gas exploded during the cleanup. Ali notes that the incident served as a catalyst for the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other regulations, but the book's greatest strength are the intimate accounts from first responders, including the author's father, a trauma surgeon, and mother, an internist, who were on staff at Waverly's Nautilus Memorial Hospital. With just two operating rooms and no dialysis or cardiac units, Nautilus was not well equipped to deal with the disaster, but doctors and nurses--as well as police and fire and rescue personnel--soon began arriving from around the region, and "not a single living patient who entered Nautilus Memorial Hospital that day died while in their care." The L&N Railroad company was later found to be legally responsible for the train wreck due to poor maintenance, lax inspections, and weak safety protocols, and reached a $10.7 million settlement with the victims and their families. Though some of the policy details and technical discussions of the derailment are dry, Ali vividly captures how quickly the community came together in the face of catastrophe. This is a fitting tribute to everyday heroes. (Feb.)