Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine [Mass Market Paperback]

Peter Canning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 1998

In this unforgettable, dramatic account of one man's experience as an EMT, Peter Canning relives the nerve-racking seconds that can mean the difference between a patient's death and survival, as Canning struggles to make the right call, dispense the right medication, or keep a patient's heart beating long enough to reach the hospital. As Canning tells his graphic, gripping war stories--of the lives he saved and lost; of the fear, the nightmares, and the constant adrenaline-pumping thrill of action--we come away with an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a hero.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Medical adventures and introspective musings by a paramedic learning the ropes in Hartford, Conn. Canning is not your typical paramedic, if there is such a creature. His background includes 12 years of service in Washington, D.C., with Senator Lowell Weicker and later in Hartford when newly elected Governor Weicker appointed him to the state health department. Thus Canning, whose daily life centers on the nitty-gritty of emergency medicine, mostly in an inner city, brings to his work the larger perspective of a former policy wonk. He is keenly aware both of society's ills and of government's inability to solve them. There are enough gory details here to satisfy anyone's curiosity about just what it is that paramedics do and how they do it. Some 911 calls are matters of life and death, but others involve minor accidents or trivial incidents; thus the paramedic's day is an unpredictable mix of tension, action, frustration, and boredom, of racing against time and of waiting around. Early in his paramedic career, Canning worries about being good enough, and he writes honestly of his struggles to meet the high standards he has set for himself. Later, as his skills improve and he gains confidence, he frets about the status of his new profession. Canning bridles when patients refer to him as a mere ambulance driver or doctors snub him, and he glows when nurses compliment his work. Paramedics, it seems, don't get much respect. Nevertheless, at the end of a day's work, Canning the paramedic knows for certain that he has made a real difference in someone's world, a reward that Canning the speechwriter never received. A vivid account of emergency medicine that should go a long way toward generating respect for paramedics. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

In this unforgettable, dramatic account of one man's experience as an EMT, Peter Canning relives the nerve-racking seconds that can mean the difference between a patient's death and survival, as Canning struggles to make the right call, dispense the right medication, or keep a patient's heart beating long enough to reach the hospital. As Canning tells his graphic, gripping war stories--of the lives he saved and lost; of the fear, the nightmares, and the constant adrenaline-pumping thrill of action--we come away with an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a hero.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (September 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804116148
• ISBN-13: 978-0804116145
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Medicine > Specialties > Emergency Medicine
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Medicine > Internal Medicine

More About the Author

Peter Canning has been a full-time paramedic in the Greater Hartford area since January of 1995. His first book Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine details his journey from speechwriter for the Governor of Connecticut to caregiver on the city streets. Rescue 471: A Paramedic's Stories is the sequel.

A graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Canning attended the Phillips Exeter Academy and the University of Virgina. He has worked many jobs in his life: tennis instructor, aide to United States Senator, taxi driver, meatpacker, line cook, telephone solicitor, book and movie reviewer, factory worker, health department administrator, speechwriter and political campaign director before finding his place in life as a paramedic.

Canning is currently at work revising a novel about EMS.

A lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, he and his family live in West Hartford, Connecticut.

His blog: Street Watch: Notes of a Paramedic can be found at www.medicscribe.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What it's really like, December 11, 2002

By 

"kamital" (Burbank, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine (Mass Market Paperback)

If you want an idea what it is really like to be a medic on the streets, this is it--good, bad and ugly. I read it when I was starting EMT school, and nothing prepared me better for what I would see in the field. Definately a must read for anyone in the medical field, or anyone who wants to go into emergency medicine.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Canning and "The Bug", August 6, 2005

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine (Mass Market Paperback)

Peter Canning once worked for Lowell Weicker as a speech writer. Then he got "the bug." I can't think of a better way to describe that sense of duty and commitment that seems to possess people who are underpaid, overworked, and have to deal with the worst in our society.

Like most "bugs," this bug changes over time. Canning makes the switch from a high paying job to EMS out of a sense of wanting to help. I've known others like him. One fellow I know made the switch from electrician to paramedic even though it cost him (and his family) a third of his salary.

In the beginning is the desire of the new EMT or paramedic to earn the respect of others in his profession. Canning was so proud as he marched into an operating room and established an airway with doctors looking on. I've known those feelings.

The bug metamorphasizes. EMS people often have to deal with the poor in our society. This means a call from someone who has no health insurance and who has to depend upon an ambulance trip to an ER for normal health care.

Or this means the poor in spirit who find nothing productive to do with their lives. For example this includes the elderly woman who calls EMS due to shortness of breath, and then she wants a cigarette.

After a while in EMS you see plenty of folks whose lives could not be saved. The hardest is the feeling of "if I had been there" or "if I had made another decision." Canning writes of those feelings. The bug has changed again from the time Canning was so proud to march into an operating room and establish an airway.

Sometimes EMS burns people out. Canning was not one of them. This book is just the first that he wrote about his EMS experiences.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Descriptive and Emotional, June 23, 2000

By 

BME - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow. This was a wonderful read. I've read a few other EMT/Paramedic books, and none of them have come close to the quality of this one. Other books have been watered-down, amateurish versions of Peter Canning's book. He tells it like it is, from bloody accidents to his unedited feelings about some of the people he encounters. Wonderful description (I actually got nauseous at times)and good writing. There were a few slow places where he sidetracks to politics, but I see why those segments are there. The rest of the book is a clear view into EMT jobs. Those people are WAY underpaid. Only one thing bothered me: Mr. Canning says that he wants people to see him as a hero. Well, hello! YOU ARE! All of you are. Thank you for what you do every day for horrible pay and the threat of bodily harm from disease, drunks, criminals, and a million other dangers I don't have the room to describe. Be proud. You deserve it.