A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration from the late David AH Newman. #93 To be a first responder My late father, David AH Newman, originally wrote this piece for Big Med in 2007. It is an interesting take on what makes a first responder and seems particularly apropo […]
Yearly Archives: 2012
103 posts
A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration from Norm Rooker. #92 Just what do you say? Vicki, my bride of 29 years and counting, and I were making good time on Interstate 10 across Alabama on our way to Galveston, Texas. 2012 has been a very active year for […]
A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration. #91 Christmas Jew Long before the Brunelle Family introduced me to the joys of celebrating Christmas in the company of family at the foot of a beautifully decorated tree, I was a Christmas Jew. For on Christmas eve ‘tis the moment when […]
A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration. #90 The bet Michael Smith still owes me a case of beer. The beer is the debt on a bet made between paramedics rolling the ju-jube dice and hoping for excellent vibes. Michael threw it down as a measure of extra karma […]
A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration. #89 Tzedakah I wrote this piece a number of Christmakahs ago. I thought about it yesterday when I heard about the heartwarming story of Larry DePrimo, the NYPD cop who bought a homeless man a pair of shoes. We like to hear […]
A nugget of Big Medicine for your consideration. #88 The union we deserve I’m not a union guy but I once started a wildcat strike. Mike ‘Elwood’ Crowley and I reported for work about 45 minutes early, as per usual, at the Western Sector garage of Urgences Sante (Montreal EMS). […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #87 C’est tiguidou As a semi-pro breaker of bad news I should have seen the signs. Ambulance Mike calling relatively early on a Sunday morning. No attempt at striking a Monty Pythonesque accent as per the previous hundreds of calls between us. Straight […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #86 First person – Bike crash Writing in response to #84 Professional Indifference, my sister Susan said, “When I had that bike accident a couple of years ago, amidst the chaos and confusion one woman sat down next to me and calmly held […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #85 Shoes Like the detritus left by high tide after an intense storm, there are usually clues left at the scene of a particularly brutal interface between victim and paramedics. Little bundles of latex gloves, torn wrappers of trauma dressings, ecg pad backings, […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #84 Professional indifference Last week, a good friend of ours – we’ll call her Sally – was enjoying ice cream with her daughter and a friend. Suddenly and somehow, right on the sidewalk in front of them, a pedestrian was struck by a […]