Rescue 471: A Paramedic's Stories |  | Author: Peter Canning
Publisher: Ballantine Books
List Price: $7.99
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Seller: previously-enjoyed
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 84919
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0804118825
Dewey Decimal Number: 616
EAN: 9780804118828
ASIN: 0804118825
Publication Date: April 4, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
TRUE LIFE-AND-DEATH DRAMA
In taut, thrilling prose, Peter Canning has written a book that captures the rarely seen real world of emergency medicine. A seasoned paramedic who fights under enormous pressure to save lives, Canning trains new paramedics for the rigors of a nonstop, action-packed battle. From a four-month-old baby who has stopped breathing to a sixty-seven-year-old woman with a strange abdominal mass that threatens to explode--these are gripping true stories from the "ER on the streets." An exciting, often moving account, Canning tells a powerful story of camaraderie, selflessness, and courage as paramedics try to stand tall and human through both defeat and victory.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
Engaging and Insightful December 20, 2007
David Vanengen (Minnesota, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Simply stated, this book is an eloquently written account of the joy and horrors experienced by the men and women who serve in EMS. Objective, moving, and holding nothing back, this book holds a special place on my bookshelf as an aspiring Paramedic. Kudos to Mr. Canning and everyone else like him.
I didn't want to part with it July 16, 2007
John Broyles (Bartonville, IL USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
All I can say about this book is it was enthralling to read! It was unfortunate that it had to leave my shelf to go to Iraq, but while I had it, there was no way I could put it down.
Mr. Canning's description of working EMS holds true for other parts of the country.
enthralling! July 1, 2006
A. Roberts
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I began reading this book while working my own shift (EMT-I, not a paramedic unfortunately) and as soon as a call came in I didn't want the put the book down and go! (but I did, of coarse!) Canning is able to maintain intensity in his stories throughout the entire book. This is a good chance for current and aspiring EMS personnel to get an idea of the wide range of calls medics receive
 A Real Priority 1 Title! June 15, 2006
Quickwriter1 (USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Excellent views from the inside of EMS. Heartfelt emotions and calls that are true to life keep this work very real.
George O. Love Author of: On The Scene
To Medic or Not to Medic April 29, 2006
Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
There are two types of people who will want to read this book: those who like adventure and those who want to see if EMS is for them. Peter Canning is a real-life paramedic in Hartford,
Connecticut, who once worked as a speech writer for former Governor Lowell Weicker. Both of Canning's books are full to bursting with real-life adventure. EMS crews in Hartford have little down time as they go from heart attack patient to auto wreck to infant not breathing to drug overdose. Canning takes his readers along through adventure after adventure at a dizzying pace.
At the same time, Canning shows some of the toll that EMS work takes on the people who do it. In his first book, Canning makes the job switch to EMS. His progression is the usual one from someone who is thrilled with the excitement of the work to someone who wants to earn the respect of his peers to someone who realizes that it's the patient that counts. In _Rescue 471_ Canning has become a well experienced paramedic.
But there are still struggles. Canning works his way through the times when EMS made the transition from a health need to a business dealing in medicine. His smaller EMS company is bought out by a larger one. There are new regulations promulgated by unknown faces. There's the worry about pay and jobs though one of Canning's friends reminds him that EMS companies still need "meat on the seat." Canning also works his way through the worker burnout caused by the long hours of work and dealing with stressful situations. One night Canning just doesn't care anymore. As he drives home, he speeds through the red traffic signals and arrives at his home breathless. I have to commend him for admitting how close he came to losing it.
EMS work in my part of the country is different yet so much alike. The hours are long. A shift is 24 hours on and 48 hours off. The pay is lousy. The only way that the guys make a living is by going from one shift to the next. One medic once told me he had not been home for 11 days. That was after he told me he was trying to leave EMS for nursing. Most of the smaller EMS companies in this area are now gone. Larger companies have taken over the rural areas and even some of the larger cities. This has lead to a demand for medics with techs being told that they need not apply for a job. So two years of schooling (some less, some more) is required to get a job in EMS. And I know of some areas where the EMS guys are getting burnout in about three years. Oh, and did I say the pay is lousy?
To medic or not to medic. Canning worked his way through his burnout. And me? I still have my National EMS Registration and am proud of it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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