En Route: A Paramedic's Stories of Life, Death, and Everything in Between [Hardcover]

Steven ""Kelly"" Grayson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 3, 2009

Stephen "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. His 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.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven “Kelly” Grayson, CCEMT-P, is a critical care paramedic and EMS instructor from Monroe, La. He has extensive experience in EMS education and was the president of the Louisiana EMS Instructor Society and a board member of the Louisiana Association of Nationally Registered EMTs. He operates the EMS training and consulting firm MEDIC Training Solutions.

Kelly also writes a monthly column for EMS1.com entitled The Ambulance Driver’s Perspective. He is a frequent lecturer at EMS conferences around the country, and is known for his engaging, humorous and often inspirational presentations. Kelly is single and currently lives in Kinder, Louisiana. He enjoys hunting and the shooting sports, and spending time on the water with his daughter. When he is not teaching, Kelly prowls the streets in search of little old ladies who have fallen and can't get up.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; First Edition edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427799717
• ISBN-13: 978-1427799715
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #452,586 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Kelly Grayson is a critical care paramedic and EMS educator in southwest Louisiana. He is the father of an enchanting six-year-old daughter, and enjoys hunting, shooting and outdoor activities.

By day, he is a mild-mannered author and EMS educator, but by night, dressed in his superhero costume of Day-Glo traffic vest and multi-pocketed EMS pants, he prowls the dark recesses of the city in search of little old ladies who have fallen and can't get up.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good stories, needs editing. October 19, 2009

By Mark Adkins

Format:Hardcover

"En Route" is a series of vignettes that tell great stories with great feeling, often putting you right there with the author.

However, there is often a lack of connective material. He seems to change jobs and companies often with no comments or connections. He meets a nurse, asks her out, then is engaged, married, and divorced in little more than a few sentences. People are mentioned with little context- why do we need the full name of a person who pops up a single time without knowing anything else about them?

There is also an assumption that you are familiar with both rural Louisiana and basic paramedic skills- he often mentions locations as if you are already intimately familiar with them, where a brief commentary that this is a one-horse town, or this is a suburb of a better known town, etc. A little more context or background would have been nice.

I also missed any sort of a glossary or explanations of terms he used(although I MUCH prefer explanations in the text). For example, there is a running gag about 'spiking a bag of saline' that I am sure has paramedics in stitches, but becomes kind of annoying to the rest of us.

On the other hand, unlike so many of EMS stories, it does not devolve into an 'its all about me' tale, a morality tale, or anything like that. Instead, it is a good overview of the life of a paramedic- the ups and downs, and built on a nice outline in which each story moves us towards his thoughtful ending.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book August 3, 2009

By Suzernathy

Format:Hardcover

I am not a paramedic, nor am I in the medical field, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kelly Grayson is a gifted writer and a deeply compassionate person with an ability to see the humor in difficult situations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining at times, but often disconnected. January 12, 2011

By Patricia Morganstern

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This was an entertaining set of anecdotes culled from a fairly lengthy career as a rural Paramedic in Louisiana.

As an ex-paramedic myself, I don't have the same negative comments regarding the medical terminology as many other reviewers have pointed out, but do have some observations.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about this book is its structure--it is divided into little scenes detailing a particular call or situation. This is all well and good, but the stitching together of these scenes leaves the tale disjointed, and the reader confused. Some connecting material wouldbe a great benefit to the book.

The author also relies on the same choice of words throughout the book...to the point it becomes tiresome. Every call from the dispatcher is a "rude interruption." They "pipe in sunlight" to several locales. It just seems unimaginative. The life of a paramedic is one filled with excitement (good and bad) and very colorful...the story would be better served with more imaginative word choices.

Ultimately, I think the author failed in the primary task of such a book (and I have read dozens!)...to immerse the reader in the emotional connections between paramedic and the Job, and the patients, and the coworkers.

Sadly, I expected much more of this book than was delivered.