Paramedic: On The Front Lines Of Medicine

Description: Peter Canning shocked his family and friends when he gave up a successful career as a speechwriter for the governor of Connecticut to become a paramedic. Making his way through a rigorous training period, overcoming his self-doubts and fear of making fatal mistakes, Canning went from a life of privilege to the life-and-death reality of the streets. In Paramedic, Canning relives the nerve-racking seconds that can mean the difference between a patient's death and survival, as he struggles - sometimes in the face of a hostile crowd or the glare of TV cameras - to make the right call, dispense the right medication, or keep a patient's heart beating long enough to reach the hospital.

Review: Canning's "book is both a personal story and a vivid portrait of his profession, one that despite its importance is often taken for granted.... PARAMEDIC deepened my appreciation for the work paramedics do".

-- The Washington Post