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 […]
Hal Newman
146 posts
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 […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #83 Good Sam When I was younger I used to love roadtripping and mixtapes. A number of years ago – back when car stereos still featured cassette players – I was driving from Montreal to South Florida. I had left immediately after finishing […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #82 Advice for the ages Early in my career as a paramedic, I was lucky enough to work with the late great Gil H. – one of the last of the previous generation of gentleman medics. Gil had started working on the rigs […]
A nugget of Big Medicine every day. #81 Intersections I miss the intersections. On the job, when we arrived at an intersection there were mere seconds to survey the situation and decide whether or not to proceed. “Clear right,” said my partner. “Clear left,” I said to myself. And then […]