Download or read book Memoirs of a Firefighter Paramedic written by Bruce Zamelsky and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2008 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has more than twenty years of real-life incidents and was written for two reasons. I want those who are just starting in this profession and also those who have many years' experience, both paid and volunteers, to understand the roller coaster of emotions they will experience. The other reason for writing this book is to try to explain to the general public what emergency responders go through and the many different emotions we experience. We are not robots- we are just like you. We are your neighbors, your teachers, and your friends. Every one of us has dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy in preparing to be there in your time of need. It is our privilege and we love to do it. Everything I talk about in the book is real; there are no fabricated stories or sensationalizing to make the incidents sound more dramatic. They are written truthfully, as they happened, and the emotions are genuine. I hope this book sheds some light on the courageous and extraordinary people that work and volunteer in these professions and the challenges they face.

Download or read book Let Burn written by Rachel K. Wentz and published by MSU Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1985, desiring a meaningful, high-paced career in public service, Rachel Wentz left her university studies to become a firefighter/paramedic. Only the eighth woman hired by the Orlando Fire Department, a highly competitive department steeped in tradition, Wentz excelled, completing an AS in Fire Science, a master’s in public administration, and numerous specialized training courses to prepare her for an administrative position within the department. Wentz spent eleven years with OFD, experiencing a career that was every bit as exciting and challenging as she had sought. A moving, candid, and eloquent memoir, Let Burn recounts her experiences as a firefighter/paramedic, during which time she witnessed aspects of life and death few people are privy to, experiences that shaped her as a professional and as a person. From the rigorous demands of training to the extraordinary calls Wentz responded to, Let Burn details the gratifying aspects of the field, but also demonstrates the precarious nature of the job: a heated altercation at the scene of an industrial fire leads to Wentz losing almost everything she’s worked for and the dramatic end of a storied career. In vivid detail, Let Burn provides a firsthand glimpse into the hidden world of firefighting and emergency medicine.

Download or read book First Responder written by Jennifer Murphy and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One woman's incredible story of life on the front lines as an emergency medical worker in New York City. On the streets of New York City, EMTs and paramedics do more than respond to emergencies; they eat and drink together, look out for each other’s safety, mercilessly make fun of one another, date one other, and, most crucially, share terrifying experiences and grave injustices suffered under the city’s long-broken EMS system. Their loyalty to one another is fierce and absolute. As Jennifer Murphy shows in the gripping and moving First Responder, they are a family. A dysfunctional family, perhaps, but what family isn't? Many in the field of pre-hospital emergency care have endured medical trauma and familial hardship themselves. Some are looking to give back. Some are desperate for family. Some were inspired by 9/11. Still others want to become doctors, nurses, firefighters, cops, and want to cut their teeth on the streets. As rescuers, they never want people to die or get hurt. But if they are going to die or get hurt, first responders want to be there. Despite the vital role they play New York City, EMTs are paid less than trash collectors, and far less than any other first responder makes, even though the burden of medical emergencies fall on the backs of EMTs and medics. Yet for Jennifer and her brothers and sisters, it's a calling more than a job. First responders are constantly exposed to infectious diseases, violence, and death. The coronavirus pandemic did not change that math; the public is just more aware of it. After 9/11, EMT training schools experienced a surge in applications from civilians wanting to become first responders, inspired by rescuers who responded to the terrorist attacks and rushed into the burning towers when everyone else ran out. The same will almost certainly be true post-coronavirus as people are moved by a desire to help in times of crisis in a more direct way. Funny and heartwarming, inspiring and poignant, First Responder follows Jennifer's journey to becoming an EMT and working during and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic. She will bring readers inside an intense world filled with crisis, rescue, grief, uncertainty, and dark humor. First Responder will move readers to a greater understanding and appreciation of those fighting for them—wherever they live—in a world they hardly know or could imagine.

Download or read book Ambulance Man written by Brian Casey and published by . This book was released on 2022-01-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ride along with the calm and measured paramedics of 1980s ambulance work as they navigate speed and gore. Chronicled are the memories of a boy who followed the sirens' call into manhood utilizing grit and imagination to overcome hidden deficits. Ambulance Man is the sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but always heartfelt story of a young man's entry into ambulance work. The police story has been widely written and portrayed, the firefighter unceasingly praised, yet it is the ambulance EMT or paramedic who suddenly appears at the side of the sick and injured, and remains a mystery to most. Experience the sights, sounds, strategies, and raw emotions of this uniquely intense and rewarding occupation.

Download or read book Ordinary Heroes written by Joseph Pfeifer and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller From the first FDNY chief to respond to the 9/11 attacks, an intimate memoir and a tribute to those who died that others might live When Chief Joe Pfeifer led his firefighters to investigate an odor of gas in downtown Manhattan on the morning of 9/11, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. A few moments later, he watched as the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Pfeifer, the closest FDNY chief to the scene, spearheaded rescue efforts on one of the darkest days in American history. Ordinary Heroes is the unforgettable and intimate account of what Chief Pfeifer witnessed at Ground Zero, on that day and the days that followed. Through his eyes, we see the horror of the attack and the courage of the firefighters who ran into the burning towers to save others. We see him send his own brother up the stairs of the North Tower, never to return. And we walk with him and his fellow firefighters through weeks of rescue efforts and months of numbing grief, as they wrestle with the real meaning of heroism and leadership. This gripping narrative gives way to resiliency and a determination that permanently reshapes Pfeifer, his fellow firefighters, NYC, and America. Ordinary Heroes takes us on a journey that turns traumatic memories into hope, so we can make good on our promise to never forget 9/11.

Download or read book Ashes Ashes We All Fall Down written by David Westbrook and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2022-01-09 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After twenty-six years in public safety, David Westbrook was at the top of his game. Married with four children, a former police officer, paramedic, firefighter and Lieutenant for the Baltimore County Fire Department, he was "living the dream". What he didn't know was that after years of repeated exposure to trauma such as children dying in his arms, an entire family being burned to death in a house fire, a police officer suicide and even a line of duty death within his own department, his dream would soon become a nightmare. Left untreated, David's undiagnosed PTSD began to change him, as his life began to spiral out of control. It wasn't until after hitting rock bottom, he realized he had a problem. The silent beast living inside him had stolen his happiness, confidence and his will to live. Lost, lonely and a broken shell of a man, David began to pick up the pieces and put his life back together. All of his self-destruction could have been avoided had he simply admitted there was a problem and not been afraid to ask for help. His pride along with the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment within the fire service prevented him from asking for the help he so desperately needed, which nearly cost him his life. In this MUST-READ memoir, David gives a firsthand account of the damages that remaining silent caused him, and his family to endure. Intertwined with real life comedic experiences from his time on the job, it is sure to have you laughing as you learn a thing or two about mental health among firefighters and paramedics and the trauma they face from day to day. It's time to erase the stigma.

Download or read book The Rescuer written by Jason Sautel and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He helped save people every day—but he had no idea how to save himself. Jason Sautel had it all. Confident in his abilities and trusted by his fellow firefighters, he was making a name for himself on the streets of Oakland, California. His adrenaline-fueled job even helped him forget the pain of his childhood—until the day he looked into the eyes of a jumper on the Bay Bridge and came face to face with a darkness he knew would take him down as well. In the following months, a series of traumatic emergency calls—some successful, others impossible-to-forget failures—drove Jason deeper into depression. Even as he continued his lifesaving work, he realized he could never rescue everyone, and he had no idea how to save himself. In the end, Jason was forced to confront the truth: only the relentless power of love could pull him back from his own deadly fall. Action-packed, spiritually honest, and surprisingly romantic, The Rescuer transports readers inside the pulse-pounding world of firefighting and into the heart of a man who needed to be broken before he could finally be made whole.

Download or read book Working Class Hero written by Tom Kenney and published by Publish America. This book was released on 2004-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Working Class Hero: Memoirs of a Providence Fireman is one man's action-packed account of twenty-three years of life as a firefighter in busy metropolitan Providence-the third largest city in the Northeast. Experience what it's like to be taken on one emergency call after another-fires, shootings, stabbings, and more. Encounter situations that are completely unimaginable to the average citizen. Thoughtfully written with the reader in mind, describing each stage of an incident, this book allows the reader to visualize riding along with the firefighters as they pull up to a scene and must take immediate action. In this book, Lieutenant Tom Kenney will take you inside the mind of a firefighter as he makes life and death decisions. Celebrate his victories and suffer his defeats. Glimpse a world few people ever experience. From practical jokes and fun around the firehouse to gut-wrenching real-life tragedies, this book covers it all!

Download or read book Sound of Mercy A Paramedic s Story written by and published by Dorrance Publishing. This book was released on with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Working Fire written by Zac Unger and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-02-22 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Zac Unger didn’t feel like much of a fireman at first. Most of his fellow recruits seemed to have planned for the job all their lives; he was an Ivy League grad responding to an ad at a bus stop. He couldn’t keep his boots shined, and he looked terrible in his uniform. Working Fire is the story of how, from this unlikely beginning, Zac Unger came to feel at home among this close-knit tribe, came to master his work’s demands, and came to know what it is to see the world through a firefighter’s eyes. From the raw material of his days’ work—alarm calls both harrowing and hilarious, moments of triumph and grief—Unger has forged a timeless story of finding one’s path, and a rousing adventure about the bravery and sacrifice of everyday heroes. On the web: http://www.zacunger.com

Download or read book The Fireman s Wife written by Susan Farren and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Speaking on behalf of thousands of women nationwide, Farren pens a touching, inspiring, and humorous account of the life of a fireman's wife.

Download or read book 24 Hours at a Time written by Jay Adair and published by Dog Ear Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I imagine life in a firehouse is a bit like life in a prison. You have a certain amount of time to kill before your sentence is up, and much of that time is spent swapping stories. Most yarns get told so often, both the teller and the listener are already painfully aware of each tiny detail. Occasionally, someone will remark, "Somebody ought to be writing this stuff down," as if the worn-out tales are of such noteworthy substance, society at large would be the poorer if they slipped into oblivion. Taking the bait, I started writing-not all of the stories, only mine. After all, the only facts I could be sure of were the ones I was directly involved with, and thus, the only ones I felt I could share, with any sense of accuracy. Just a few dozen of the thousands of events seemed noteworthy, so the vast majority of them remain un-chronicled, as they should. I usually wrote each narrative shortly after it occurred, while the memory was fresh and the images were still vivid in my mind. I then clicked the "SAVE" icon on the word processor and left the writing buried on the computer's hard drive- sometimes for decades. It was not until my career was winding down that I seriously considered making a book out of them. If you are a fireman and read the book it will be very familiar to you-you've made hundreds of calls just like these; in fact, your stories might be much better. If you're a civilian, curious about life in the fire department, the stories might surprise you. It's not exactly the job many folks think it is. It's a whole lot more-some good, some bad. The stories range from fires to floods, births to suicides, escaped parrots to trapped kittens, crazy civilians to crazier firemen. Some days it felt like you were a performer in the circus, while everybody clapped. Other days you felt like the guy with the shovel, following the elephants while everybody laughed. Just try and keep in mind this book was written by a fireman, not a professional wordsmith who knows how to dangle his participles without anyone noticing. I think my best writing was done on various bathroom walls during my Junior High School years. Alas, nobody thought to save it.

Download or read book Wild Rescues written by Kevin Grange and published by Chicago Review Press. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Kevin Grange details nearly everything that possibly could go wrong in a national park and yet still manages to make you more excited than ever to hit the trail." —Conor Knighton, New York Times bestselling author of Leave Only Footprints: My Acadia-to-Zion Journey Through Every National Park Wild Rescues is a fast-paced, firsthand glimpse into the exciting lives of paramedics who work with the National Park Service: a unique brand of park rangers who respond to medical and traumatic emergencies in some of the most isolated and rugged parts of America. In 2014, Kevin Grange left his job as a paramedic in Los Angeles to work in a response area with 2.2 million acres: Yellowstone National Park. Seeking a break from city life and urban EMS, he wanted to experience pure nature, fulfill his dream of working for the National Park Service, and take a crash-course in wilderness medicine. Grange's epic journey took him to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Grand Teton National Parks where, among other calls, he battled to save the lives of a heart attack victim at Old Faithful, a hiker who'd fractured his skull below Yosemite Falls, and a snowmobiler who launched into a deep gorge in the shadow of the jagged Tetons. Grange was initially overwhelmed—and out of his element—providing patient care in an extreme environment with limited resources and a two-hour drive to the nearest hospital. But he came to enjoy the challenges and steep learning curve of wilderness medicine. Between calls, Grange reflects upon the democratic ideal of the National Park mission, the beauty of the land, and the many threats facing it. With visitation rising, budgets shrinking, and people loving our parks to death, he realized that—along with the health of his patients—he was also fighting for the life of "America's Best Idea."

Download or read book Silent Siren written by Matthew Franklin Sias and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A twenty-three-year veteran of emergency medical services, paramedic Matthew Sias took a detour in his career to pursue the death care business and found a complementarity between seemingly divergent careers. Silent Siren: Memoirs of a Life Saving Mortician is the record of some of the more memorable calls he has responded to through the years.

Download or read book The Flame Within written by Wayne Mutza and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A former City of Milwaukee firefighter, the author writes his memoir with candor, depth, spice and emotional insight. He lays out the tumultuous events that led him as a youth into the profession, and the wealth of eye-opening experiences along the way. He plumbs the character of the firefighters and paramedics who answer the call for rescue--but also the character of those who make the call, the rescuer and the rescued. The author keeps the reader close with vivid details of fighting fire and dealing with the anguish of loss and destruction. He pulls no punches; he also describes the promotion process, the politics in stations and in the service as a whole, the struggle of teaching young firefighters, and the heavy price of dedication. The book fully displays the humanity of members of the fire service and the flavor of fire service tradition.

Download or read book Jumping Fire written by Murry A. Taylor and published by HMH. This book was released on 2014-05-13 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “terrifying, grimly funny” memoir about fighting forest fires in Alaska offers “an affectionate portrait of a fraternity of daredevils” (The New Yorker). A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year Fighting fires since 1965, legendary smokejumper Murry A. Taylor finally hung up his chute after the summer of 2000—the worst fire season in more than fifty years. In Jumping Fire, Taylor recounts in thrilling detail one summer of parachuting out of planes to battle blazes in the vast, rugged wilderness of Alaska, with tales of training, digging fire lines, run-ins with bears, and the heroics of fellow jumpers who fell in the line of duty. This unique memoir, filled with humor, fear, tragedy, joy, and countless stories of man versus nature at its most furious, is a “tale of love and loss, life and death, and sheer hard work, set in an unforgiving and unforgettable landscape” (Publishers Weekly). “Filled with adventure, danger and tragedy.” —The New York Times Book Review “A beautifully crafted, wise yet thrilling book.” —Los Angeles Times

Download or read book A Call to Save written by Thomas J. Harrington and published by Spinner Publications Incorporated. This book was released on 2006 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If God had a divine plan for Thomas Harrington, he made it abundantly clear right from the start. Saint Lawrence Church and Fire Station 5 loomed side by side across the street from Thomas's boyhood home in New Bedford, Mass. It was a foreshadowing of what would become his life's work: the priesthood and the fire service. Thomas grew up to become Father Harrington, a catholic priest in the Diocese of Fall River, . While the firefighters responded to the call to save lives, Fr. Harrington answered his own call, to save souls. Together they worked and prayed'and shared some of the most dramatic, gut-wrenching, joyous, and awe-inspiring experiences imaginable. From raging conflagrations, to the solemn march in remembrance of six brothers who perished in a Worcester warehouse fire, Msgr. Harrington's calling has brought him joy and sadness, compassion and courage. Above all, it has brought great admiration for the brave men and women of the fire service. This memoir is a tribute to them.