shouting, an occasional goofy drunk
for comic relief, but the bulk of the job
is invariably depicted as an adrenalin
rush. Strangers’ eyes usually widen
when I tell them what I do for a living.
The truth of my work is both less and
more interesting. A paramedic today
exists in a poorly defined grey area,
some combination of field doctor, social
worker and street sweeper. We answer
many of our calls without sirens at all,
and sit with people nursing complicated
problems that only distantly relate to
actual medicine.
I recently came across a startlingly
truthful depiction of the soul of emer-
gency medical services in a book that
seemed to have nothing to do with
emergencies at all. In the New York
Times bestseller Evicted, Matthew
Desmond follows eight families
caught up in the eviction process in
Milwaukee, Wisc.
This book about economics and
housing quickly turns into a gut-
wrenching story of American poverty.
About three pages in I realized, Oh,
this book is about my job. Desmond
writes about Arleen, a single mother.
She lives off of welfare because the
money is seemingly steadier than any
job. Her youngest son has asthma and
she keeps falling behind with his med-
ications. I know before Desmond tells
me that she often calls 911 for his
asthma attacks. He gets sick a lot, and,
with no primary-care doctor, they take
him to the emergency room. I under-
stand this. I’ve run that call.THE HISTORY OF housing, of the neigh-
bourhoods people live in and why they
live there, is the story of poverty. As a
street medic, I’m never going to getmost patients’ lab results. But I’ll see
the inside of their bedrooms, and their
neighbours’ bedrooms. I’ll see the
photos stacked in the dark corner of a
closet before I’ll ever see a chest X-ray.
I carry my bags up three flights of
stairs, past potted plants, framed cer-
tificates and family photos. I know
which houses have meth labs, which
have illegal back units, which have a
beautiful rooftop deck. I look in the
fridge for insulin. A patient directs me
into her closet to pick out a jacket to
wear to the ER. She doesn’t like the
yellow one; grab the blue one behind
it. A Vietnam infantry hat falls as IAMBULANCE SERVICES, AT THEIR CORE,
ARE ABOUT TRANSPORTATION. OUR PRIMARY
FUNCTION IS TO GET OUR PATIENTS OVER
TO THE HOSPITAL.rd.ca 73