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Abstract

I identify my experience as a professional paramedic as one of chaos and personal rupture. My story is one of survival. My quest is to have the experience count for something more than just having done the job. Through an insider’s perspective I have traced the time that I spent in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) of the San Antonio Fire Department by reflecting, interpreting, and analyzing a collection of dramatic events that significantly impacted my life both personally and professionally. I describe my time in EMS as one of chaos and personal rupture. Although this account is a representation of one twenty-four-hour shift, it is the prelude to a much deeper story that remained untold for 30 years.

Keywords

Christmas chaos fire department medical paramedic

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A Paramedic’s Christmas Story

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