Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kydneybean 's review for:
informative
fast-paced
I could listen to anyone talk about their job for hours, especially any job that works with the public. I've shared stories with friends who have worked retail or restaurant jobs, I've asked a million and one questions to local news reporters I've worked with about public interactions, and after listening to A Thousand Naked Strangers, I just know I could sit and listen to an EMT/former EMT tell me every story they have with rapt awe like a kid during story time.
After 9/11, Hazzard left behind his brief start in journalism to try to find a job that would be rewarding and where he could contribute to something important; being an EMT seemed to be the answer for him. After completing his training, he was thrown right into the thick of things and I felt like I had been thrown into that ambulance right beside him. The sights, the sounds, the smells. I felt like I was right there with him the entire time.
A major throughline in this memoir is burnout. It's a common issue with those employed in such a profession (routinely working overnight, weekends, and holidays while seeing the worst damage on a human body), and Hazzard repeats it. Those who have gone through burnout, those who warn him of burnout, and those he loses to burnout. Despite this, when Hazzard is finally faced with his own burnout, he doesn't crash out. He chooses to step away and return to writing—and parenthood—full-time for the sake of his own sanity despite being passionate about the job for a decade.
While Hazzard's experiences in EMS are a mixed bag of good days and bad days and crazy days, the entire memoir is not totally depressing or overwhelming. Hazzard includes his own brand of dry, dark humor and sly observations about his experiences alongside his storytelling. And my final observation is that EMTs and paramedics are not paid enough for what they do.
After 9/11, Hazzard left behind his brief start in journalism to try to find a job that would be rewarding and where he could contribute to something important; being an EMT seemed to be the answer for him. After completing his training, he was thrown right into the thick of things and I felt like I had been thrown into that ambulance right beside him. The sights, the sounds, the smells. I felt like I was right there with him the entire time.
A major throughline in this memoir is burnout. It's a common issue with those employed in such a profession (routinely working overnight, weekends, and holidays while seeing the worst damage on a human body), and Hazzard repeats it. Those who have gone through burnout, those who warn him of burnout, and those he loses to burnout. Despite this, when Hazzard is finally faced with his own burnout, he doesn't crash out. He chooses to step away and return to writing—and parenthood—full-time for the sake of his own sanity despite being passionate about the job for a decade.
While Hazzard's experiences in EMS are a mixed bag of good days and bad days and crazy days, the entire memoir is not totally depressing or overwhelming. Hazzard includes his own brand of dry, dark humor and sly observations about his experiences alongside his storytelling. And my final observation is that EMTs and paramedics are not paid enough for what they do.
"In the beginning, it was all sirens and heroes and saving lives. A few years later, I hated the sounds of sirens. I'd saved lives but never enough, and I'd done heroic things, though never once did I feel like a hero."