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En Route: A Paramedic's Stories Of Life, Death, And Everything In Between (2005)

by Steven "Kelly" Grayson(Favorite Author)

3.71 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1427799717 (ISBN13: 9781427799715)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Kaplan Publishing

review 1: Great book! Took me back to my days as a medical First Responder.The only thing keeping me from giving this book the fifth star was the arrogant attitude the author was quick to display. I'm sure, based on the stories and other reviews of the book that he's one of the best, but the way he writes about patients, by-standers, and care-facility staff left a sour taste in my mouth; one that would probably go away if ever I met him in person. I guess it's too many years of watching sanitized stories of FD rescue teams on "Emergency!", "Chicago Fire", "Trauma", and shows of that nature.Still highly recommended for those in or thinking of joining the profession and curious fans like me.
review 2: I was mostly interested in this book because I used to be an EMT. If ... morethat's also your perspective, you will enjoy it, as long as you don't try to think of it as a larger story. Just appreciate it as a big list of some guy's war stories. I really enjoyed it- every chapter had me laughing or cringing or thinking "Oh man, so true!" or "I hate it when that happens." If you have some connection to emergency medicine, consider this a 5 star book for amusement alone. But for everyone else, I'd have to drop it down to 3.The book is really disjointed and parts of it hardly make any sense. It seems to skip around chronologically, or at least the author skips over major events in his life story. That would be fine, except then he references them. One chapter he's working in one town for one ambulance service, the next he's working somewhere else. The chapter after that he's back in the first place...I think?Someone else mentioned that this was adapted from a blog, which I completely believe. Don't know why they couldn't have assigned an editor to it though, to help make a cohesive story. There are lots of details that are supposed to improve the stories (which hospital sucks, how far out into the sticks he is, which ER doc is an asshole) that are really hard to keep track of.He's also very inconsistent about explaining emergency medicine terms. In one chapter he quotes one paramedic asking another if they needed the "Kendrick Extrication Device." I, former EMT, stared at the page for like 15 seconds before realizing, "Ohhhhh, the KED." I guarantee you no paramedic in the history of the world has ever called it by its full name outside of a classroom. The next chapter he's rattling off a bunch of EKG terminology that I only vaguely recognized as...well, being EKG terminology. Anyway, even when he writes out "Kendrick Extrication Device," he doesn't actually tell you what it is, so prepare to be confused by medical terminology unless you have some background in it. (For the curious: A KED is basically a spine board that you can mold to someone who is seated in a car.) Also, the last chapter is a MAJOR downer. I have no idea why he chose the most depressing possible story in his repertoire to end the story with, but it just makes the whole book seem incredibly depressing in retrospect. I recommend pausing halfway through the book, reading the last chapter, then finishing. The book will make exactly as much sense and you won't feel so damn depressed right after you finish. less

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