Can You Hear Me?: An NHS Paramedic’s Encounters with Life and Death
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A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
‘With poignancy, humour and compassion, Jones invites us into “the invigorating chaos of pre-hospital care” . . . a panorama of experiences: the mundane, the ridiculous, the heartbreaking and the tragic’ – The Guardian
‘This beautifully written book, punctuated with wry humour, is a sobering portrayal of the ailing, the distressed and the lonely… Yet it’s also an uplifting read which will make you thankful that should your hour of need arrive, so will someone like Jones’ – Daily Express
A memoir of the chaos, intensity and occasional beauty of life as a paramedic.
A young man has stopped breathing in a supermarket toilet. A pedestrian with a nasty head injury won’t let the crew near him on a busy road. A newborn baby is worryingly silent. An addict urinates on the ambulance floor when denied a fix. This is the life of an ambulance paramedic.
Jake Jones has worked in the UK ambulance service for ten years: every day, he sees a dozen of the scenes we hope to see only once in a lifetime. Can You Hear Me? – the first thing he says when he arrives on the scene – is a memoir of the chaos, intensity and occasional beauty of life on the front-lines of medicine in the UK.
As well as a look into dozens of extraordinary scenes – the hoarder who won’t move his collection to let his ailing father leave the house, the blood-soaked man who tries to escape from the ambulance, the life saved by a lucky crew who had been called to see someone else entirely – Can You Hear Me? is an honest examination of the strains and challenges of one of the most demanding and important jobs anyone can do.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Quercus (3 Sept. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 320 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1529404282 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1529404289 |
| Dimensions | 12.8 x 2.2 x 19.6 cm |
by SR
At a time when we all have a new respect and appreciation for the NHS this book gives a honest, but also uplifting insight into the world of paramedics. It vividly describes both adrenaline-fuelled life-saving highs and depressing lows when the writer and his ambulance crewmates can’t make any difference to a patient’s fate. Jake Jones doesn’t dress up paramedics as heroes, in fact he is at pains to convey the mundanity of some days on the job, the frustrations with time wasters, or lack of satisfaction in transferring a patient into a flawed system. But you clearly feel his commitment to treating patients and their families with compassion, not just the next job. I also liked that it is not just a collection of anecdotes about interesting cases, but a very personal story of someone who admits he felt out of his depth before becoming an experienced professional. The chapter about his own father is particularly powerful. Jones doesn’t sugar coat the tough parts of the job – some of the stories about his patients really are heart-breaking – but he celebrates the good and is clearly proud of what he does. He certainly comes across as the sort of caring, switched on person I’d want in my corner if I called 999. The book is a window into a world most of us don’t see and is well worth a read.
by Mrs K L Wraith
Enjoyed the book it was a thoughtful read. Would have liked to have seen more cases in the book, it didn’t take long to finish.
by Jacquelynn P
It’s impossible to know how a paramedic or a fireman can cope mentally with all of the day to day norms of their profession this book gives us a small peephole into that world
by Amazon Customer
A real inside story, written by someone who has been there.
by julie young
This is a very honest , not sugar coated description of the life of a paramedic. With constant cuts and shortage of crews available to attend calls for assistance, this book paints a picture of the emergencies faced , the effects of social problems on patients, the pressures of making the correct diagnosis and treatment plan and the heart break of lives lost.
by Mrs. R.M.
An interesting insight into the work of a paramedic and the challenges faced by these people. Well written
by P at Bangor
Well written
by Amazon Customer
I enjoyed this book and it’s anecdotes about life as a paramedic in London. Having read similar books from the perspectives of doctor, nurses and prison doctors, I enjoyed the raw honesty in this book. Jake Jones told things very matter of fact and didn’t sugarcoat anything. A strong stomach is needed for some of the stories!