Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine (Mass Market Paperback)

by Peter Canning (Author) "In November of 1988 when my boss, United States Senator Lowell Weicker, was defeated in his bid for a fourth term in office, I found..." (more)
Key Phrases: cardiac room, cubic centimeter syringe, airway kit, Saint Francis, Hartford Hospital, West Hartford (more...)

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.

Product Description

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.


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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books (September 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804116148
• ISBN-13: 978-0804116145
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #191,749 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the real understanding of a Paramedic, January 7, 2003

By A Customer

I am currently a M.I.C.T (Mobile Intensive Care Technician-Paramedic). This book not only gave an excellent presentation of the position from a professional position with excellent description of treatment and protocol, but also caters to the layman who may not have any medical treatment. They book will not only show a true paramedic, but also give a Paramedic the credit where credit be due. Some think that being a Paramedic is all glory,...you will find out the true life of a Paramedic in this book....which is Glory for a mere second and waiting forever for a call, and transporting patients that did not have a ride to a doctors appointment.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Introspective and humanistic, December 4, 2005

By	Code 4 (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

"On the Front Lines of Medicine" explores a much more humanistic and introspective view of Paramedic work. His book is more of a confession than a narrative. It is in this confessional nature that he trancends the superficial stereotypes of paramedics as arrogant adrenaline junkies, and readily discloses the toll that EMS work has on its practitioners. In a way that not many books do, Canning describes the nuances and boredom, as well as the excitement and danger, in EMS.

Once I started reading, I was hard pressed to quit until fatigue forced me to stop reading until the next morning. I'm pretty hard on book authors and EMS books in particular. Despite this, I have only positive things to say about this book.

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 (REAL NAME)

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.