Pulse: A Paramedic's Walk Along the Lines of Life and Death

We’re the ones who walk into your house, into your emergency, into your life that will never be the same.

When we walk out, we’re never quite the same either.

In this debut collection of essays, Pace tells of his years as a career paramedic—wandering through the highs and the lows, the saves and the losses, the patients he remembers, and the ones he tries to forget.

In 1997, Pace began his career as an EMT because he wanted to do something exciting. He wanted to help people too. And he thought those two things—excitement and helping people—would exist hand in hand. With a little sprinkle of glory thrown in for good measure.

Twenty-three years and thousands of calls later—as an EMT, then paramedic, working in a helicopter and on the ground—he still hasn’t stumbled onto any glory, and he’s tired of the excitement. But some nights, even now, he finds scraps of humanity—beautiful pieces in the broken-up mosaic of the world.

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Praise from Kevin Hazzard, author of A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

Hilarious, tragic, and absolutely unforgettable—just like the job itself. Pulse thrums with a kinetic blast, yet chooses all the right moments to slow it down and let us feel the gravity of the situation. And while it’s said the best couples finish each other’s sentences, James and JK write them. I’ve read harrowing and comic stories of life in an ambulance, but never one where the spouse interjects to scoop up lost details or flip the perspective. The effect is magic.