Firehouse Fun!
Written: Jul 24 '09 (Updated Jul 25 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun, dramatic and true.
Cons: I did not need any terms explained to me.
The Bottom Line: Recommended read!
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| clooneyfan's Full Review: Mark Praschak - Medic 16, Medic 16 |
I was a volunteer emergency medical technician for 16 years. I briefly volunteered at the same station as the author back in 1982. At the time, Odenton VFD had had the only volunteer advanced life support unit in Anne Arundel County. That's where you had to go if you were a volunteer CRT or Paramedic. Our paths only crossed for a year or two and then we parted ways.
Mark went on to become a career paramedic. I returned to my original volunteer fire station to ride as an emergency medical technician and I worked at the local hospital. Mark and I would occasionally bump into each other over the years so my review of this book is probably biased.
That disclosure aside, I still think the book was a pretty decent read, which is why I’m writing a review about it.
I like books about hospitals, fire and police departments. Two of my all time favorite books are “Report from Engine Company 82” by Dennis Smith and “The Choirboys” by Joseph Wambaugh. They’re old books but they represent classic fire department and police humor.
Medic 16, Medic 16 was named after the city ambulance where the author was assigned for almost 2 years as a career paramedic. The book however, spans his entire fire department career starting as a volunteer and ending with his final career assignment. And no, I'm not mentioned in it.
The first two chapters were kind of slow moving for me. I attribute this due to the author having to constantly explain fire department “lingo” for the civilian readers. I would have preferred that he had put a glossary in the back but that’s small potatoes.
I thoroughly enjoyed his description of the firehouses and the raggedy reserve ambulances in Baltimore City. My husband was a professional firefighter and officer there for 32 years and he would return home with similar stoires. Baltimore City medics respond to such an inordinate amount of calls, I’m surprised that any of them last for more than 2 years.
Praschak writes an entertaining story about fire school and how the instructors continuously mispronounced his name as “Praycheck”. I’m embarrassed to admit that I never pronounced his name correctly, either. His nickname was “Paycheck” at the firehouse and it's what I always called him.
His book is filled with anecdotes detailing the many interesting ambulance calls he went on. Some of them had me in hysterics. Others were heartbreaking or gross. Now I remember why I never became a career paramedic! I don’t think I would have lasted long enough to collect a pension.
My favorite part of the entire book had to be where they prank called some innocent citizens waiting for a bus. They were always playing practical jokes on one another at the firehouse and his recollections made me shriek with laughter!
Reading this book brought me back to those wonderful years of riding the ambulance. It will introduce the reader to the camaraderie that firefighters share.
Paperback: 197 pages
Publisher: PublishAmerica (March 2, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1608132196
ISBN-13: 978-1608132195
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
clooneyfan
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Location: Baltimore, MD
Reviews written: 206
Trusted by: 169 members
About Me:
I've worked in health care all my life.
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