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Louisiana-based EMT Steven “Kelly” Grayson has lived the highs, the lows, and the laugh-out-loud craziness of a paramedic’s roller-coaster life – and he’s got the stories to show for it.

In his book, En Route: A Paramedic’s Stories of Life, Death, and Everything in Between, Grayson provides nearly 50 short (5-10 page) vignettes that tell the stories of lives in crisis, and how emergency medical responders step in to pick up the pieces of those shattered lives. On a good day the work is rewarding and perhaps heroic, on a bad day sometimes tragic, but Grayson is able to find the humanity and often humor in every situation. 

Written by a paramedic for paramedics – or those soon to be
Grayson’s work as a critical care paramedic in rural Monroe, Louisiana, makes his perspective especially unique, as so many narratives about working as a paramedic deal with emergency response work in major cities. What quickly becomes obvious, however, is that trying to save lives, and caring deeply about the outcomes for those in whose lives they intervene, is the same among paramedics everywhere, whether they practice in a rural southern town or a major urban city.

A born story-teller, Grayson writes for others in the EMT profession. He doesn’t, for example, bother to stop and define terms that make up the everyday life of paramedics, but assumes you’re already familiar with them. What his stories lack in “connective tissue” between the vignettes is more than made up for in the passion he has for the paramedic’s life.

The EMT inside stories
If you’re contemplating a career as an emergency response technician or paramedic, Grayson’s book will provide you with an excellent, detailed, an honest account for what such a career might look like. And if you’re already an EMT and would like to connect with a colleague who can spin a story with the best of them, Grayson’s your guy.

He dedicates this book to “all of my partners, past and present – this book is as much yours as it is mine.” Reading En Route gives you the sense of actually being in that ambulance with Grayson – and what a ride it is!

Time for a study break?
If you’re currently taking courses toward your EMT certification, such as Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) certification, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certification or Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, this may be just the book to inspire you during your study breaks.

En Route: A Paramedic’s Stories of Life, Death, and Everything in Between, by Steven “Kelly” Grayson. Kaplan Publishing, 2009. 312p. ISBN 1427799717.

The information included in this article is based on the 2020 guidelines for CPR, first aid and advanced cardiovascular care. Read more about the 2020 changes to the online PALS course.