Written in Blood: Lessons on Prevention from a Risky World

Written in Blood is an urgent exploration of how disasters happen – and how they can be prevented.

Award-winning author and physician Brodie Ramin, trained in prevention through his work in primary care and addiction, explores how we can scale up preventative strategies and apply them at a societal level: from the wreckage of plane crashes and pandemics to nuclear catastrophes, industrial accidents, and natural disasters.

Through gripping case studies – from the Notre Dame fire to Fukushima – Ramin dissects the human errors, systemic failures, and overlooked warning signs that lead to catastrophe. At its core, the book argues that prevention is not only possible but essential – we must act before disaster strikes, rather than learning only in its aftermath. Drawing on frameworks like James Reason’s Swiss cheese model of error and insights from high-reliability organizations, Ramin shows how risk compounds when safeguards fail – and how layered defenses can save lives. He offers a critical intervention: by adopting a prevention mindset and overcoming our cognitive biases, we can proactively solve problems in our personal lives, our organizations, and our society, before the next crisis unfolds.

Blending history, psychology, and public policy, Written in Blood is a compelling call to rethink how we manage risk, before it’s too late.

Dr. Brodie Ramin practices family medicine, HIV primary care, and addiction medicine, and is an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa. He speaks and teaches on addiction medicine, exercise and health, and prevention science. His book The Age of Fentanyl was shortlisted for the Donner Prize.