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“Ambulance Man” with author Brian Casey
April 5, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm CDT
Free
“A behind-the-scenes ride that is sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but always heartfelt.” Join Brian Casey for a program about what it was like to work in high-pressure situations as a paramedic and EMT including his early days working on the orange-and-white wagon ambulance that barreled down the streets of Stillwater in the 1980s.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Brian Casey’s latest book, Ambulance Man, is the story of a uniquely intense and rewarding occupation, one that has not been widely told. Ride along with the calm and measured paramedics of 1980s ambulance work as they navigate speed and gore. Chronicled are the memories of a boy who followed the sirens’ call into manhood utilizing grit and imagination to overcome hidden deficits. Ambulance Man is the sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but always heartfelt story of a young man’s entry into ambulance work.
Brian Casey’s latest book, Ambulance Man, is the story of a uniquely intense and rewarding occupation, one that has not been widely told. Ride along with the calm and measured paramedics of 1980s ambulance work as they navigate speed and gore. Chronicled are the memories of a boy who followed the sirens’ call into manhood utilizing grit and imagination to overcome hidden deficits. Ambulance Man is the sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, but always heartfelt story of a young man’s entry into ambulance work.
Short excerpt:
For years as a boy, I had rushed from my house to the corner of Third and Laurel for a distant glimpse of the very ambulances that were now coming there to pick me up to be the ambulance attendant. Like a realized dream of glory, that most beautiful of man-made objects, the ambulance, would stop before me and I would climb in.
At night the phone would ring and the caller quip, “Gotta call, pick ya up.” Sometimes I wouldn’t hear the phone ring and my folks would take the call and wake me with the message. I would spring from bed, dress with trembling hands, and go out into the dark. I would stand in the illumination of the streetlight as crickets chirped in the summer or crystalized snow fell in the winter.
The rig would arrive silently, not wishing to advertise the detour needed to complete a crew. Sometimes I would wait and wonder if they had changed their mind or forgotten me. Once it occurred to me that some sick or injured person and I were both waiting for the same ambulance.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Brian Casey grew up Stillwater and earned a teaching degree from the University of Minnesota. Casey has spent his entire adult working life as an EMT, paramedic, EMS educator, and police officer
Brian Casey grew up Stillwater and earned a teaching degree from the University of Minnesota. Casey has spent his entire adult working life as an EMT, paramedic, EMS educator, and police officer