Breath of Life: The Life of a Volunteer Firefighter

by Daniel B. McVey

Breath of Lifetells the story of a volunteer firefighter's life as an EMT and a firefighter. Author Daniel McVey chronicles the harrowing stories of saving lives and facing death on a daily basis; he also shares stories of the dedication and professionalism of his comrades. He describes the small village on Long Island called Floral Park, where he belonged to the Rescue Company of the Floral Park Fire Department. While they were primarily responsible for medical emergencies; the stories included in Breath of Life provide an intimate view of the dangers these heroes faced as volunteers who also had full-time jobs. Growing up in Floral Park, McVey set his sights on becoming a volunteer firefighter after taking a CPR course taught by three members of the Rescue Company. From that point on, his stories give a realistic picture of the stresses of emergency care for life-threatening emergencies. Covering the period from the mid to late 1980s into the 1990s, McVey chronicles how the morale of the Rescue Company had many ups and downs and how several members brought the company back together again. In July of 1999, he responded to his last call, thus ending an exciting time as a volunteer firefighter.

236 pages, Paperback

First published December 14, 2011

Reviews

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breath of Life by Daniel B. McVey, is a great book about an even more amazing man. Daniel’s life is one that not many people are able to relate to. Living the life on a volunteer firefighter is not something that every ordinary person can do; it takes a lot of courage and time management.

This book is all about a man and his life in the fire service. It goes from the chief saying “Well, that brings you on board my friend” (6) to him being baptism into the world of fire and all the way until the point where he retires. From the beginning he talks about how he got evolved with the Floral Park Volunteer Fire Department. After that it goes on to review the things he did to get his firefighter certification and from there get his EMT license. The end of the book just goes through how he put his skills into work over the course of 13 years or so.

Daniel’s dedication to the fire department is seen throughout the whole book. The one is when Daniel was doing some training for his new job as mail man. During his training day he dropped everything he was learning and ran to catch the truck for a rescue call even though it could have affected him getting the job. This just shows what type of man he is by willing to job everything to help a stranger in need. It’s not only with Daniel but volunteer firefighters all over the world.

I really liked the way that the author wrote this book. There are a few reasons that I rated this book a 4 star out of five. All of the things that he talked about are relatable to those who have been through the same. Another thing that I really like in the book was that the author never used any exact locations or names because of the respect he had for the victims he has help. I’m sure there was some confidentiality laws involved too. The biggest thing is that he shows the limited gratitude that is sought after by the first responders. They could care less if people send gratitude their way; they just get gratification for helping others in their time of need.

From some of the other information that I found, some of the trucks that Daniel road out on are still around today. The “bus” (79) that is also known as the heavy-duty rescue truck, is still their main truck but the ambulance he worked on has been retired. The city has four other fire houses which have almost all updated their equipment since Daniel's days. Even though he has been gone for a while, the whole attitude behind the service of the Floral Park Volunteer Fire Department is still the same.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I am about to start training to be a fire fighter and I think I may like to be an EMT at some point too, so I wanted to learn more about what I am getting myself into. The author gives us a pretty good idea about what working in fire and rescue is like and he even includes the gross details (like how when you're giving people CPR, they might puke in your mouth). The book demonstrated that working in fire/rescue is a dirty, stressful and often dangerous job but it can be extremely fulfilling and meaningful. The only complaint I have about the book is that there were some spelling and grammar errors and some typos.