Blood, Sweat, and Tea: Real-Life Adventures in an Inner-City Ambulance

by Tom Reynolds

• ISBN10: 0740771191
• ISBN13: 9780740771194
• Publish Date: 1 April 2008
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 276
• Language: English

Reviews

[clairelm]

I will start by pointing out something that wasn't clear when I got this book - it's a series of blog posts collated together into a book rather than the 'normal' book I was expecting.

I will admit that this does give a good insight into the life of a paramedic but I spent a good proportion of the book wanting to give the author a serious shaking.

He comes across as incredibly arrogant and unprofessional, making comments about the patients he sees which would be inappropriate within a conversation between crews, let alone published for the whole world to see.

While quite a bit of what he wrote made me see red, there was one bit in particular which had my blood boiling instantly. At one point, after describing the death of an infant, he implies that people who are affected by the death of a patient, are weak. That is as far from the truth as possible and will make people feel horrendous if they are affected by something. So, as an aside to the review, please note.... if you experience something like that which affects you, it doesn't matter what it is, you are NOT weak for feeling that way.

Sorry. I'm going to end the review there as otherwise it will probably turn into the rant. In summary, it's a good idea as to what people in the pre-hospital care environment deal with but most are much more professional than this author.

[clq]

Recommended by a friend, this was very much a random choice of reading material, and I am glad I chose it. It is a collection of blog-posts written by an employee of the London Ambulance Service. Through the posts, which are generally only a page or two long, the writer recounts regular, less regular, and rather irregular experiences he has had while on the job. Part of the reason I liked this book was the 'behind the scenes' look it gave at the ambulance service. If anything, it has reassured me that the Ambulance Service are dedicated people who know what they are doing, will help in the best way they can, and will, most of the time, provide an excellent service.

On the flip-side, large parts of this book are also very scary, disturbing, and incredibly dark to someone like me. While told in a factual, non-tabloid, manner, stories from real life about dead babies, heart attacks and crying relatives are never pleasant to read. Of course, the book also has its share of light-heartedness, and stories with happy endings. Overall I guess the book paints a picture of reality, with all the shades that go along with that. The book is very well written, rarely gets repetitive, and often got my heart beating faster as I wondered what the outcome of a particular 'job' was going to be. If you think you might like a book with real stories from an employee in the ambulance service, you will really like this book. If you don't, you might not. Either way, with a bit of Googling it is available (legally) as a free ebook, so you might as well give it a try.