“You’re the doctors,” he said, and stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Ray and I had been through EMT school together and knew CPR, and a whole lot of other stuff that we had never actually performed on a real person. Knowing something and being confronted with the reality are far different things. The ALS […]

From EMS1 Editor’s Note: City Life, a collection of Michael Morse’s interactions with the people he encounters as an EMT, paints a vivid picture of life in a small city. These are stories of triumph, loss, tedium and hilarity. Inspiring and concise, the book provides insight into life at its most raw and powerful. “Rescue […]

Christmas is the day where all work stops, families reconnect, and life is lived the way it is best lived; by not working! Unless, of course, you’re working…   But don’t despair, I have thought long and hard and have developed 7 reasons why it’s okay to work on Christmas Day.   1) Everybody else […]

Here’s an idea for those unfortunately working on Christmas  Eve and or Christmas  Day; spend a few bucks, fill a sack with goodies and turn your patient’s frowns upside down when they get an unexpected  gift from the last people they expected one from. When you give a little you get a lot! She reached […]

A popular special education teacher died from injuries sustained following a hit and run accident in Providence last week. It took eighteen minutes for a mutual aid ambulance to arrive on scene. The local news station investigative team did a follow-up report. Somehow the message at the end of the report left viewers questioning whether […]

Its a beautiful late fall day, temperature a ridiculously beautiful 60 degrees, I’ve got the radio on, window down and I’m driving on West Shore Road, a two lane quiet little roadway that runs from east to west through Warwick, RI. Theres barely any traffic on this stretch of roadway and I’m enjoying the ride. […]

If you have been looking for a gift for somebody on your list who enjoys reading, may I suggest one of my books? Rescuing Providence is the first book I wrote, it was published in 2007 by Paladin Press. Some have said that it helped them decide to pursue a career in emergency services, which […]

A few weeks ago I talked with Bernie, the first Paramedic to respond to the massacre at Sandy Hook. We talked for an hour, and a friendship was started. He mentioned that nobody has ever asked him what he saw that day. “We can imagine,” I said, immediately regretting it. He snapped at me, and […]

…Each and every one of us represents the rest. Every time we do things right we give a gift to everybody in EMS; the dispatchers, the first responders, the EMTs, the paramedics, the emergency room docs, nurses and techs, the firefighters and the cops. By giving our best, we get back far more than we […]

This weekend the Mayor of Providence allowed two engine companies and two ladder companies to be put out of service, as well as short staffing other vehicles. He claims that Providence firefighters purposely avoided work, and thus will be prosecuted. Nice work, Mayor Elorza. Always a good strategy to veer scrutiny away from yourself and […]