Talking Trauma
Books by paramedics have flowed onto the market for at least a decade, giving readers drama and TV producers inspiration. Tangherlini offers something different. A folklorist, he reports the stories told by Alameda County (California) paramedics and explores what roles the stories play in their self-conceptions and their relations with colleagues and supervisors. For several months during an overall three-year period, Tangherlini rode and visited with almost 100 paramedics, male and female. He relays the expected dramatic incidents and also a thoughtful perspective on why and how these stories are told, on their different levels of meaning and purpose, and on how they portray the field. However it may sound, the book is more than an academic exercise. Its lively and understandable text extends its appeal from the readership of other investigators like Tangherlini to the general public.William Beatty--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.