Bringing Out the Dead by Joe Connelly

Joe Connelly, ex-medic, wrote Bringing Out the Dead based on his own experiences. And I’ll tell you, it’s a wild ride. Not really enjoyable, but a good read nonetheless. This book covers two nights, but it feels like weeks. The whole book has that effect, like you’re thrown for real into this insane ambulance ride, and you come out the other side confused, exhausted, and understanding Frank’s rapid decline.

Frank Pierce has been an EMS medic for (I think) 5 years. Over the past 12 or 13 months, he’s barely saved anyone. He drinks too much, lost his wife and constantly threatens to quit, or get fired. Instead, he keeps climbing back in that ambulance and going on calls. He’s haunted by ghosts of people who have died under his care, or before he could even get to them. He’s also haunted by those he’s saved when maybe he shouldn’t have.

The book does not show a flattering picture of New York, its hospitals, its police officers, etc. Patients are mistreated, verbally abused and ignored. In addition to that, the helpers — the medics, the doctors, the police — are abused by the patients as well. Lots of unhappy people with unhappy stories shoved into one book.

However, it’s well-written and at times very entertaining. Frank tells a little story about a patient between each chapter–some are funny, some are heartbreaking. My dad has been trying to get me to watch the movie, but I’ve never gotten around to it. I might now, after having read it, especially knowing that Frank’s first partner (a lunatic who likes to administer physical therapy aka punches to his more difficult patients) was played by Tom Sizemore–that’s some stellar casting there.