Tag Archives: Medical Author Chat

EMS Book Review: “Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Life-saving Mortician” by Matthew Sias

December 21, 2012 6:05 pm | Leave a Comment |

My EMS Book Review for December is Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Life-saving Mortician by Matthew Sias. The book is a chronological progression along his unique career in emergency services.

 Sias’ story is uncommon with respect to his career development.  It’s normal for some new EMT’s to follow a non-EMS trajectory and eventually become career law enforcement, firefighters, nurses, PA’s, or doctors.  Less common are the EMT’s who become coroners or morticians.  Out of my hundreds of emergency service friends, I know of only two who pursued that path.

Going into the book, I had the preconceived notion of it being a collection of morbid stories that would depress even seasoned EMS providers. Despite the darkness of the cover and title, this isn’t the case.  Sias weaves together several dozen short memoirs with a light and humorous writing style that engages readers to follow him through his pursuit of providing for a patient or family’s needs.

 I enjoyed reading this book and even had the opportunity to talk with Sias on Medical Author Chat with Greg Friese.  Be sure to check out that interview and pick up the book!

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Joining Medical Author Chat

December 14, 2012 8:29 pm | Leave a Comment |

A while back I told readers about my opportunity to meet EMS celebrities at this year’s EMS Expo in New Orleans.  One of those celebrities was Greg Friese.  I’ve been a stalker big fan of his for a while now, and I had a ton of questions for him.  Among the questions were…

“How do you maintain so many websites and podcasts?”

“How are you able to consistently create a high volume of quality online content?”

“How many years without sleep must someone endure to achieve your level of success?”

He did answer the first two questions in depth, and I’m proud to say that I now understand the ways of an e-Jedi.  I just can’t share them with you.  He swore me to secrecy, and Greg also has the power to perform a Darth Vader Force Choke through any device with an internet connection.

In response to the third question, he admitted that it had actually been about five years since he’s slept, as evidenced by his hallmark baritone voice.  Turns out he sounded more like Adam Levine before getting into e-Learning.  We later had a conversation about how to decrease his workload so that he could begin sleeping at least once a month.  The solution we settled on was to find him a co-host for the popular Medical Author Chat podcast.  We launched a nationwide search for a co-host, and identified several exemplary candidates.  Unfortunately, none of them were interested in providing their services at the salary we offered, which was… okay, so there isn’t a salary for a podcast co-host.

So in the interest of allowing Greg to sleep occasionally and the lack of a qualified co-host willing to work for free, yours truly will be joining Medical Author Chat as a co-host.  We kicked things off this week with our first show together.  So surf yourself on over there and check out the interview with Matthew Sias, author of Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Life-Saving Mortician.

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EMS Book Review: “Please Don’t Dance In My Ambulance” by Barry Bachenheimer

July 28, 2012 1:46 am | 2 Comments |

My EMS Book Review for July is Please Don’t Dance In My Ambulance by Barry Bachenheimer.  Readers of my reviews may be calling foul already.  Sure, reviewing an EMS children’s book is a sharp break from my regular reading regimen.  To be honest, I gave up caffeine this month and have subsequently dropped to a third-grade reading comprehension level!  Luckily, this book is a great purchase for readers of all levels.  I thought of two great uses for this book as I flipped through its colorful pages.

First, it’s a fun story for any EMS provider to share with the young children in their family.  The short, whimsical rhyming and cartoon illustrations will bring a Dr. Seuss feel to story time.

Second, this book would be a good tool to have on hand at EMS public relations events.  Young children are frequently apprehensive around ambulances, and this short story (perhaps read from the tailboard to a group of kids) would be perfect for decreasing their anxiety about ambulances.

There does come a point in the story where everyone gets to dance in the ambulance after their hard work is complete.  Bachenheimer discussed his hard work as an EMT and educator on an episode of Medical Author Chat last year.  Check out the interview, then grab the book to read for the young children in your life!

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EMS Book Review: “Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine” by Peter Canning

June 3, 2012 4:54 pm | 1 Comment |

Continuing on the 12 n ’12 Reading Challenge for EMS Professionals, my EMS book for May was Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine by Peter Canning.  The book takes readers through the up’s and down’s of the first several years of Canning’s EMS career.  As a former political speech writer turned paramedic, Canning is the quintessential medical author.  However, these talents don’t offer much protection on the streets.  Though he came into EMS with more education and life experience than many young medics, he finds that he isn’t immune from the trials of internships and earning the respect of his peers.

“I am glad that they have confidence in me.  I do not feel it is warranted.  The call has scared me – reminded me that there are calls ahead where I will stumble and won’t have someone there to get me back on the right track.”

In time, Canning hits his stride and joins the ranks of the urban EMS professional, only to find that there were a lot of topics not covered in his training.  He finds himself challenged both positively and negatively from shift to shift.

“Before leaving I go to wash my hands.  In the men’s room, I look at myself in the mirror.  Who am I?  What are my true feelings?  Why can’t I see this woman for what she is – a scared, poorly educated mother who’s probably had a hard life full of defeats and prejudices against her, who loves her daughter and just wants her to be all right?  Where is my compassion?  My understanding?”

Canning manages to capture both the vivid, tangible details of EMS calls and the dynamic, intangible emotions that prehospital providers encounter.  Through all the chaos in his shift work, Canning eventually finds an inner calm and satisfaction.  His thoughtful reflections are too numerous to list here, but my favorite was this…

“Around six every night it gets very busy.  We clear the hospital and are the only ambulance available in the city, and the dispatcher says to us, “You are covering the world.”  I think I may not be a senator, or the right fielder for the Red Sox, or a rich man, but here I am covering the world.  And no matter who gets sick, whether a poor man in the projects or the governor in his mansion, when they call for help, I will come through the door.”

Canning offers readers some more insight into his EMS writing during this interview on the Medical Author Chat.  If you find Canning’s writing as engaging as I did, then you can also check out his most recent blog entries at Street Watch: Notes of a Paramedic.

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EMS Book Review: “Moments in the Death of a Flesh Mechanic … a healer’s rebirth” by Russ Reina.

May 2, 2012 12:12 pm | 1 Comment |

I’m nearly over a week-long bout with the flu, but my brain is still not out of the cold medicine fog.  Though lying in bed afforded me time to catch up on a lot of reading, I learned that I should refrain from blogging while doped-up.  This is actually the second version of my April book review.  The highly-medicated first version read like a toddler trying to describe a M. Night Shyamalan plot twist.  So here we go with the book review, a week later, sans NyQuil.

My recommended read for April is Moments in the Death of a Flesh Mechanic … a healer’s rebirth by Russ Reina. Once you get past the distasteful imagery of an EMS professional being labeled a “flesh mechanic,” you’re in for an incredible read.  Reina offers his readers much more than simple street gore implied in the title.  He is a genuinely talented writer with the ability to display all the thoughts, movements, and emotions of EMS in simple, yet powerful, passages. Here is one of my favorites;

“I was eyes, ears, and hands and just a feeling in the center of my chest of pure internal silence. Suspended in time and moving in a vacuum, I didn’t have a name or a job; I was movement choreographed by something much greater than myself.”

Reina explores the emotions we encounter as EMS professionals more thoroughly than most writers, and encourages his readers to do the same.  He asserts that to become true healers for our patients and our peers, we must be willing to embrace our own humanity.  Otherwise, we become cold, protocol-driven flesh mechanics. This compelling work is a must-read for any provider who has ever wondered why getting over “the bad ones” became easier with time.

You can pick up your own copy of the book at Reina’s website, RussReina.com.  Greg Friese also did a great interview with Reina about the book, which you can find posted over at Medical Author Chat.  Last, but not least, Reina is still writing about EMS over at the EMS Outside Agitator blog.

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EMS Book Review: Paramedic Buff to Burnt by George Steffensen

March 30, 2012 12:09 pm | 5 Comments |

To catch myself up with the 12 in ’12 Reading Challenge for EMS Professionals, this is my second book for March.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process of reading Paramedic Buff to Burnt by George Steffensen (ISBN #1419602616). Yes, it’s a process.  More on that in a second.  Steffenson presents approximately fifty short chapters that outline some of the most memorable calls of his career. At the time he wrote the book, Steffensen was a street medic in New York City.  He is currently working as a paramedic in East Baton Rouge, a move he decided to make when his previous employer ceased operations.

Few book reviewers would suggest that readers “go see the movie” before reading any given title, but this is exactly what I’ll suggest to you.  In saying that, I actually mean two things.  First, listen to Steffensen’s interview with Paramedic Greg Friese of Medical Author Chat.  In that talk, he explains that he wrote and self-published the book after actors Nicolas Cage and Tom Sizemore did ride-along’s with his agency in preparation for their roles in the EMS-themed film, “Bringing Out the Dead.”  Steffensen could see that the film would be a macabre portrayal of the profession he loved, so his wrote the book to show all the positive work he and his peers were doing in EMS.  With about $800 of his own money (and probably countless hours of off-duty time), he self-published the book through BookSurge Publishing, a subsidiary of Amazon.com.

 My second suggestion before reading the Steffensen’s book is to see, ”Bringing Out the Dead.”  As a side note, it isn’t a good first-date movie, nor is it kid-friendly.  I think Director Martin Scorsese put together an excellent film; but just like Steffensen, I’d be a little offended if it was essentially portraying me “on my home turf.”

 After this, you’ll be ready to sit down and enjoy reading Paramedic Buff to Burnt.  Each chapter is a short narrative of a noteworthy call from Steffensen’s career.  EMS providers will recognize the author more or less follows a SOAP format of writing.  Steffensen freely admits that he’s no writer, but I still give him a lot of credit for going straight from medic to author in a single leap.

 If you’re into the research, management, or motivational aspects of EMS, this title probably won’t do it for you.  But, if you’re a field provider who enjoys reading about some truly crazy calls, this book is for you.  It is proof that every field provider has a story to tell, and that story is well within our abilities to write and self-publish.  So read the book, and start thinking of the story you have to tell the world!

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