Pulse: a paramedic's walk along the lines of life and death - james pace

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

When we walk out, were 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 hasnt stumbled onto any glory, and hes tired of the excitement.

But some nights, even now, he finds scraps of humanity-beautiful pieces in the broken-up mosaic of the world.