“Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT” by Jane Stern is the funny, fascinating and fast paced story of how a middle aged, weight challenged gourmet food writer overcame her fears and phobias to become an EMT in Georgetown, Connecticut.
At first I was drawn to the cover art which depicts a little girl in a white dress with a red cross superimposed on the image. I tend to “judge a book by it’s cover” – if it is not eye catching and intriguing, I won’t read it. Once I started reading, I became hooked by the story the author was telling me.
Among my favorite passages in the book is when the author lists the four things EMTs should never do: “Do not try to replace someone’s organs if they are hanging from their body. Do not give CPR to a severed head. Do not try to revive someone who is in a state of advanced decomposition. If you have a patient whose arm or leg is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things “neat”.” Kind of sick, but it does make sense!
So, check it out… in fact, check on any of the great non-fiction offerings – sometimes you find a gem in that pile of boring stuff about real people.
