A grief stricken mother seeks a publisher for her dead son's manuscript — the shocking tale of his wayward journey through the world of EMS. Tim Anderson is a troubled youth who becomes an EMT at Capitol Ambulance in the hopes it will help land him a girlfriend. He struggles to fit in with his new partners and not appear soft toward his sick and elderly patients. His downfall begins when he steals marijuana from a despondent college student in an attempt to curry favor with his new girlfriend. Soon, he is lifting wallets from drunken businessmen and picking money rolls out of the pockets of gunshot drug dealers to buy her gifts and fund lavish dates. Dealing daily with death and human decline, and tormented by guilt, he struggles to allow his emerging conscience to guide him on a path toward redemption that while not saving him from his fateful end, at least bestows him with grace.An action-packed dark comedy, Diamond in the Rough is a lights and sirens tour through the world of...

In this unforgettable, dramatic account of one man's experience as an EMT, Peter Canning relives the nerve-racking seconds that can mean the difference between a patient's death and survival, as Canning struggles to make the right call, dispense the right medication, or keep a patient's heart beating long enough to reach the hospital. As Canning tells his graphic, gripping war stories--of the lives he saved and lost; of the fear, the nightmares, and the constant adrenaline-pumping thrill of action--we come away with an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a hero.From the Paperback edition.

Paramedic Troy Johnson battles trauma and sickness on the streets of Hartford, Connecticut. When a fellow medic is shot to death responding to a 911 call, a grief-stricken Troy vows to avenge the death, while struggling to come to grips with his own mortality. Mortal Men examines the ancient bonding between friends and partners who count on each other to make it safely home. Written by veteran paramedic Peter Canning, author of the acclaimed Paramedic: On the Front Lines of Medicine and Rescue 471: A Paramedic's Stories, Mortal Men provides a rare view into the real-life world of street medicine and into the lives of the men and women who fight its battles.

TRUE LIFE-AND-DEATH DRAMAIn taut, thrilling prose, Peter Canning has written a book that captures the rarely seen real world of emergency medicine. A seasoned paramedic who fights under enormous pressure to save lives, Canning trains new paramedics for the rigors of a nonstop, action-packed battle. From a four-month-old baby who has stopped breathing to a sixty-seven-year-old woman with a strange abdominal mass that threatens to explode--these are gripping true stories from the "ER on the streets." An exciting, often moving account, Canning tells a powerful story of camaraderie, selflessness, and courage as paramedics try to stand tall and human through both defeat and victory.From the Paperback edition.