Pulse: A Paramedic's Walk Along the Lines of Life and Death

Were the ones who walk into your house, into your emergency, into your life that will never be the same. When we walk out, were never quite the same either. In this debut collection of essays, Pace tells of his years as a career paramedicwandering through the highs and the lows, the saves and the losses, the patients he remembers, and the ones he tries to forget. In 1997, Pace began his career as an EMT because he wanted to do something exciting. He wanted to help people too. And he thought those two thingsexcitement and helping peoplewould exist hand in hand. With a little sprinkle of glory thrown in for good measure. Twenty-three years and thousands of calls lateras an EMT, then paramedic, working in a helicopter and on the groundhe still hasnt stumbled onto any glory, and hes tired of the excitement. But some nights, even now, he finds scraps of humanitybeautiful pieces in the broken-up mosaic of the world. *** Praise from Kevin Hazzard, author of A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedics Wild Ride to the Edge and Back Hilarious, tragic, and absolutely unforgettablejust like the job itself. Pulse thrums with a kinetic blast, yet chooses all the right moments to slow it down and let us feel the gravity of the situation. And while its said the best couples finish each others sentences, James and JK write them. Ive read harrowing and comic stories of life in an ambulance, but never one where the spouse interjects to scoop up lost details or flip the perspective. The effect is magic.