Paramedics On and Off the Streets

By Michael K. Corman,

Book cover of Paramedics On and Off the Streets: Emergency Medical Services in the Age of Technological Governance

Book description

In Paramedics On and Off the Streets, Michael K. Corman embarks on an institutional ethnography of the complex, mundane, intricate, and exhilarating work of paramedics in Calgary, Alberta.

Corman's comprehensive research includes more than 200 hours of participant observation ride-alongs with paramedics over a period of eleven months, more than…


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Why read it?

1 author picked Paramedics On and Off the Streets as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This excellent read is the first of a recent wave of new books about paramedics and ambulance services. Mike Corman takes us into the working world of ambulance crews in Alberta, Canada. Participant observation provides detail and analysis of how the pre-hospital system operates and how paramedics and technicians interpret and make sense of their roles within it. 

I was particularly impressed with the discussions of conflict within what is a rather patchworked and sometimes poorly coordinated system. Ambulance crews frequently complain of what they see as inappropriate call handling and dispatching, they resent the data-driven micromanaging of their work…

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