Rescue 471: A Paramedic's Stories

by Peter Canning

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0804118825
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

To Medic or Not to Medic

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.

superior attitude superior state of mind

I thought PARAMEDIC was very good, but this book truly surpasses it, Canning develops a true wrting style that is hillarious at times, sad at others, but intense all the way through, if this is Cannings last book, then its a hell of a great note to end on. What really sets it apart from his last work is that it offers a more complete picture of the inner life of a medic rather than a selection of memorable snapshots of performance. exceptional.

Very true to the real thing

Peter Canning does an excellent job of making people understand the everyday life of EMTs. In being an EMT myself, I found myself glued to the book, reading of his experiences that are similar to the ones I've experienced. His writing style is awesome, as he defines each term and medicine, makes each call as gripping as the real thing, and tells of the struggles we, as EMTs, go through. Read Paramedic: On The Front Lines of Medicine, also by Canning. Both books are very exciting; Rescue 471 is really a sequel to Paramedic. Everyone should read this book to gain an understanding of how Emergency Medical Services work.

Simply Fantastic!!!

Keep on writing, Mr. Canning!!! The world needs to hear what you have to say!!! This book, to me, is a refreshingly honest account of the modern day EMS provider --- be it Basic, Intermediate or Paramedic level of care... Mr. Canning does a very good job of putting into words the "human" side of our work that general public does not often get to experience... An excellent read for anyone at all interested in people!!!

Great EMT-Paramedic Stories

This books lets the reader see through the eyes of a paramedic. Peter Canning shares with us his feelings, his frustrations, his joys, and his love of his profession. As you progress through the book you start to see his feelings towards his patients and how he slowly starts to "burnout" from all the BS calls, needless deaths, and people who no longer care about society. Then he tells us his joys of passing a legacy of his mentors to his own student, an honor I would like to do someday. As an EMT, I have only seen 1% of the things Mr. Canning writes about but I feel the same emotions he felt when I encountered the same patients. There are also some EMS slang terms that I thought was really funny, like "peanut butter balls." Only EMS people know what that stands for.