The E R Loading Dock Real Life Ems Stories From Around The World

Steven "Kelly" Grayson has seen the best of us at our worst. When hearts stop working, when blood alcohol levels exceed limits we shouldn't contemplate, when bodies are extricated from car wrecks, he's been there to pick up the pieces, save our lives, and watch us slip away. En Route is an unflinching look at the heart of a paramedic and the profession that shaped him. Grayson's touching stories of life and death and the hilarious ones of times in between are here to give us an insight of what happens after we call 911, the ambulance doors close, or even what happens inside the ER when the nurse shows the family to the waiting room.

Hop up, put on your seat belt, flip on the emergency lights, turn the siren knob to yelp and get ready for an adventure that began in the fall of 1975. As the Beacon Turns is a book that was originally written in the minds of those who experience the world of EMS--Emergency Medical Service--during its earlier days in the mid 1970's when the door of this profession read, "No girls allowed! Keep out!" It is based on true events and real people who pioneered the profession long before the title of hero was awarded. For these young men and one young woman, who somehow braved working with these cowboys, it is a career in the making; one that they loved so much they would have done it for free and practically did. Filled with real emergency calls and unbelieveable antics of comic relief, the book As the Beacon Turns uncovers a true depiction of this journey in an unprecedented way. Toned down to a PG-13 rating, the book reveals the vast variations of personalities and the backgrounds of the people who, throughout the course of living out these events, echoed the words, "Someone should write a book!" This wonderful tale begins with a young woman named Angela Naomi Gates, the daughter of missionaries, raised by her aunt and uncle on a farm in Michigan; then introduces many other characters and partners. You'll meet one such partner, Dan, whose pride and joy is his Captain America van, who is a connoisseur of women's legs and a huge fan of Muppets. You will also have the dubious pleasure of encountering a street dweller known as Cat Man. Then, before you know it, you'll be riding in the front seat or in the patient compartment of an ambulance and will see how if feels to deliver a baby, what's needed to treat a multiple casualty patient and what to do in many other situations. Learn what went on in the heart and mind of these emergency responders. What did they do in their spare time and how did they interact with area municipalities and the staff at surrounding medical facilities? As the Beacon Turns is written with a refreshing spirit and a bit of sass ending with Angela beating the odds of being the first female in the area to join and remain in this profession. She has faced the challenges well and has won the support of those around her. What readers are saying: Nita, I just finished reading your wonderful story.....what a creative writer you are...such an accomplishment....you should be very proud as I am sure you are.... I just loved how q chapter reflected what was going on in the world at that time...put a time frame on things so the reader (me) could put an image in my mind as to where I was and what was going on at that time.... But what a surprise to me how well you handled and responded to those "boys" during that period....I just know that my response would have been very different. I would have "given up" I am sure. or gotten really mean and even!!! I just loved hearing about Aunt Ruth and Uncle Henry....:) I am going to re-read this book and will probably email u after each chapter...with questions!!! lol lol Vicki US Registration: WGA#921486, Library of Congress #TXu-1-029-817

Into the Breach is the true story of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and heavy-rescue specialists fighting to control trauma and medical emergencies in one of America's toughest and most violent cities: Newark, New Jersey. A riveting account that hauls readers on a first-hand tour of street medicine today, Into the Breach shows what really happens inside an ambulance and some of the diverse and bizarre places EMS workers tread. Through authentic accounts, every facet of emergency care is on display-from the first 911 call to patient discharge or death, including an exclusive look at what is perhaps the biggest decontamination operation ever conducted, which crews performed for victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. A hybrid profession that blends public safety and public health, EMS attracts careerists and volunteers from all sectors of society-from Boy Scouts and housewives to Fortune 500 vice presidents and work-fare recipients. The men and women that make up the Newark EMS graveyard shift, one of the busiest, full-time teams in the nation, are quintessential EMS workers: intense, irreverent, hard-working action junkies who crave autonomy and the instant gratification of solving critical problems in real time. This unflinching profile hones in on award-winning EMS workers as well as those who pollute the industry, ironically, sometimes one and the same. Into the Breach offers an unusual opportunity to bear witness to unimaginable suffering, heroic stoicism, and the inventiveness of American EMS workers fighting to save lives.

In Miracles and Mayhem in the ER: Bonus Edition, Dr. Brent Russell builds on his first edition with more true-life stories of his early days as an Emergency Room doctor. Contemplative and oftentimes hilarious, Dr. Russell leads the reader through the glass doors and down the narrow halls of the ER where desperate patients, young and old, come to get well. Occasionally heart wrenching and always fast-paced, Miracles and Mayhem in the ER: Bonus Edition will have readers holding their breath one second and celebrating the next. Through his night shifts at a renowned Portland, OR hospital, Russell discovers his role and his confidence as he treats people from all walks of life including humanity's most bizarre in the ER. Each shift brings a new, bracing story to tell, and with this Bonus Edition, there's even more Miracles and Mayhem to enjoy.

The basis for the movie starring Kathy Bates, Ambulance Girl is an inspiring story by a woman who found, somewhat late in life, that “in helping others I learned to help myself.” Jane Stern was a walking encyclopedia of panic attacks, depression, and hypochondria. Her marriage of more than thirty years was suffering, and she was virtually immobilized by fear and anxiety. As the daughter of parents who both died before she was thirty, Stern was terrified of illness and death, and despite the fact that her acclaimed career as a food and travel writer required her to spend a great deal of time on airplanes, she suffered from a persistent fear of flying and severe claustrophobia. Yet, this fifty-two-year-old writer decided to become an emergency medical technician. Stern tells her story with great humor and poignancy, creating a wonderful portrait of a middle-aged, Woody Allen–ish woman who was “deeply and neurotically terrified of sick and dead people,” but who went out into the world to save other people’s lives as a way of saving her own. Her story begins with the boot camp of EMT training: 140 hours at the hands of a dour ex-marine who took delight in presenting a veritable parade of amputations, hideous deformities, and gross disasters. Jane—overweight and badly out of shape—had to surmount physical challenges like carrying a 250-pound man seated in a chair down a dark flight of stairs. After class she did rounds in the emergency room of a local hospital. Each call Stern describes is a vignette of human nature, often with a life in the balance. From an AIDS hospice to town drunks, yuppie wife beaters to psychopaths, Jane comes to see the true nature and underlying mysteries of a town she had called home for twenty years. Throughout the book we follow her as she gets her sea legs, bonds with the firefighters who become her colleagues, and eventually, comes to be known as Ambulance Girl.

This important book provides a firsthand account of a university professor who experienced traumatic brain injury. It tells the story of Michael Arthur, who had recently accepted a position as vice principal of a new high school. After only two weeks on the job, he was involved in a car accident while driving through an intersection in northern Utah. Through his personal account, he takes the reader into the dark interworkings of his mind as he tries to cope with his new reality. He provides insight into how he learned how to process information and even speak without stumbling on his words while also sharing how his significant relationships suffered as he tried to navigate the restless seas of doubt while trying to circumvent his unyielding symptoms. The book is about finding optimism and gaining insight into the struggles of the brain-injured patient and about trying to understand the perspectives of loved ones who can’t quite grasp the idea of an invisible injury. From the sudden onset of garbled speech to the challenges of processing information, the changing dynamic of the author’s life is highlighted to help family members and healthcare workers better understand.