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Treat Them Where They Lie: Pioneering a Revolution in Modern Emergency Medicine
When Ron Stewart—a coal miner’s son from the east coast of Canada—took a residency in emergency medicine in Los Angeles in 1972, emergency care was still in its infancy. First responders—often dispatched from fire departments or funeral homes, with hearses serving as ambulances—could put on bandages and perform CPR, but that was about it.
Stewart took on a dual role as emergency physician and advisor (earning the nickname “Doc Hollywood”) on the popular TV series Emergency!—where the fictional accident victims had a better chance of surviving than his real-life patients. Stewart’s life’s work was closing that gap, a mission he advanced by training the first generation of paramedics in LA.
After sixteen years of high-stakes trailblazing in the US emergency medical system, Stewart took on the Minister of Health job in his native Nova Scotia, where he battled long odds and fierce opposition to introduce a modern Emergency Health Services system.
In Treat Them Where They Lie, Ron Stewart and co-author Jim Meek tell a captivating story of passion and determination while exploring the highs and lows of a life well lived. With fifteen colour images, and forewords from prominent US physician and author Dr. Brian Zink and Canada’s foremost medical journalist, Dr. Brian Goldman, this riveting memoir offers readers an unvarnished look at a man who played a key role in the development of modern emergency medicine.
Stewart took on a dual role as emergency physician and advisor (earning the nickname “Doc Hollywood”) on the popular TV series Emergency!—where the fictional accident victims had a better chance of surviving than his real-life patients. Stewart’s life’s work was closing that gap, a mission he advanced by training the first generation of paramedics in LA.
After sixteen years of high-stakes trailblazing in the US emergency medical system, Stewart took on the Minister of Health job in his native Nova Scotia, where he battled long odds and fierce opposition to introduce a modern Emergency Health Services system.
In Treat Them Where They Lie, Ron Stewart and co-author Jim Meek tell a captivating story of passion and determination while exploring the highs and lows of a life well lived. With fifteen colour images, and forewords from prominent US physician and author Dr. Brian Zink and Canada’s foremost medical journalist, Dr. Brian Goldman, this riveting memoir offers readers an unvarnished look at a man who played a key role in the development of modern emergency medicine.
240 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2024
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About the author
Ronald Stewart
1 bookDr. Ron Stewart is a pioneer of emergency medicine and an internationally renowned expert in prehospital care and paramedic training.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 25, 2025
I won this book in a contest and really am enjoying it. The book is fascinating and down to earth, with a lot of heartwarming stories mixed in with interesting revelations about how much the medical field has changed in 50 years. As an east coaster, I definitely appreciate Ron’s story, it’s very inspiring.
June 22, 2024
This was a really interesting memoir by one of the most influential people in the field of emergency medicine. I hadn’t realised how basic emergency medicine had been until the 70s. I think we take for granted how much the modern world has changed the way we access healthcare and how far medicine has come in the last 50 years.
This book certainly lent more on the biography side, spending lots of time exploring Dr Stewart’s early life and how it impacted on his adult life. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to fans of ‘This is going to hurt’ or ‘this book might save your life’ it’s definitely not as colloquial or quippy. However, I would recommend it to fans of non-fiction more broadly.
This book certainly lent more on the biography side, spending lots of time exploring Dr Stewart’s early life and how it impacted on his adult life. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to fans of ‘This is going to hurt’ or ‘this book might save your life’ it’s definitely not as colloquial or quippy. However, I would recommend it to fans of non-fiction more broadly.
December 31, 2024
Thank you to the NetGalley, Nimbus Publishing, and the late Dr. Ronald Stewart for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this title!
As a Canadian-American medical student (hopefully) heading into Emergency Medicine residency in 2025 who found their love for medicine in the back of an ambulance, I feel this book was written especially for me.
"Treat Them Where they Lie" is the memoir of Dr. Ronald Stewart, distinguished physician, pioneer of pre-hospital care and emergency medicine as a specialty in two countries, politician and Health Minister, and "Doc Hollywood". It is also the memoir of Ron Stewart, coal-miner's son, hometown hero, dream-chaser, and patient advocate. Reading this book feel like being guided by the quiet "reformed Calvinist" himself through the small-town art gallery of his life before sitting down for an afternoon tea somewhere in Nova Scotia, which is an incredible feeling for a memoir whose contents could easily be the subject of a movie or an award-winning television series. I as the reader feel like I got a good glimpse into the kind of person Ronald Stewart was as a physician and as a person in his community, which can sometimes be hard to do in a few hundred pages.
For those not in the medical field, it is hard to understate the importance of the work Dr. Steward has done in his life, and I felt especially poignant for the effort Dr. Stewart dedicated to street medicine as a long-time pre-hospital healthcare worker who has absolutely benefitted from the ground-up construction of Emergency Medicine as a field today. Though there is still a lot of work to be done in both the United States and Canada in terms of fixes to healthcare, reading about the birth and growth of the field from the eyes of someone who was there on the ground was incredible.
The thing that has stuck with me (and quite frankly, made me tear up) days later as I think about this book, is the quiet dedication, humility, and love I can feel Dr. Stewart has had for Emergency Medicine, his Canadian town, and his friends and colleagues, and how those traits carried him through to the end of his life. This was a man who could have easily sensationalized or made great profit off of his own story, and who additionally could have gone off the rails into his other forays in medicine, politics, the healthcare system, and his international endeavors with little resistance and likely still as many accolades. Instead, he worked hard for the benefit of others; did what was right even when it likely cost him fame, wealth, and power for himself and those around him; and he stayed true to what was important to him and what was right for his community, even when it wasn't his preferred choice. He didn't marry and have children, but continued to love his family and friends, and used the freedom his lifestyle allowed to chase his dreams down, which as a single, childfree soon-to-be-doctor, I also find incredibly inspiring. In the last chapter of his book he is able to look back contentedly at the path of his own life - the end of which he knows is coming soon - and is satisfied with what he is done, which is more than I think most people will ever be able to say.
In fewer words, Dr. Stewart embodies the type of person and physician most of us should strive to be, and would be so lucky to have in our lives, and reading his memoir has inspired me as I prepare to head into my own career. I bitterly regret that I couldn't tell him myself that he made a difference, and will try my best to thank him with dedication to my community, my patients, and myself, which I feel he would appreciate more anyway.
As a Canadian-American medical student (hopefully) heading into Emergency Medicine residency in 2025 who found their love for medicine in the back of an ambulance, I feel this book was written especially for me.
"Treat Them Where they Lie" is the memoir of Dr. Ronald Stewart, distinguished physician, pioneer of pre-hospital care and emergency medicine as a specialty in two countries, politician and Health Minister, and "Doc Hollywood". It is also the memoir of Ron Stewart, coal-miner's son, hometown hero, dream-chaser, and patient advocate. Reading this book feel like being guided by the quiet "reformed Calvinist" himself through the small-town art gallery of his life before sitting down for an afternoon tea somewhere in Nova Scotia, which is an incredible feeling for a memoir whose contents could easily be the subject of a movie or an award-winning television series. I as the reader feel like I got a good glimpse into the kind of person Ronald Stewart was as a physician and as a person in his community, which can sometimes be hard to do in a few hundred pages.
For those not in the medical field, it is hard to understate the importance of the work Dr. Steward has done in his life, and I felt especially poignant for the effort Dr. Stewart dedicated to street medicine as a long-time pre-hospital healthcare worker who has absolutely benefitted from the ground-up construction of Emergency Medicine as a field today. Though there is still a lot of work to be done in both the United States and Canada in terms of fixes to healthcare, reading about the birth and growth of the field from the eyes of someone who was there on the ground was incredible.
The thing that has stuck with me (and quite frankly, made me tear up) days later as I think about this book, is the quiet dedication, humility, and love I can feel Dr. Stewart has had for Emergency Medicine, his Canadian town, and his friends and colleagues, and how those traits carried him through to the end of his life. This was a man who could have easily sensationalized or made great profit off of his own story, and who additionally could have gone off the rails into his other forays in medicine, politics, the healthcare system, and his international endeavors with little resistance and likely still as many accolades. Instead, he worked hard for the benefit of others; did what was right even when it likely cost him fame, wealth, and power for himself and those around him; and he stayed true to what was important to him and what was right for his community, even when it wasn't his preferred choice. He didn't marry and have children, but continued to love his family and friends, and used the freedom his lifestyle allowed to chase his dreams down, which as a single, childfree soon-to-be-doctor, I also find incredibly inspiring. In the last chapter of his book he is able to look back contentedly at the path of his own life - the end of which he knows is coming soon - and is satisfied with what he is done, which is more than I think most people will ever be able to say.
In fewer words, Dr. Stewart embodies the type of person and physician most of us should strive to be, and would be so lucky to have in our lives, and reading his memoir has inspired me as I prepare to head into my own career. I bitterly regret that I couldn't tell him myself that he made a difference, and will try my best to thank him with dedication to my community, my patients, and myself, which I feel he would appreciate more anyway.
December 30, 2024
Treat Them Where They Lie is a great read. It is an interesting journey through the evolution of emergency medicine in North America since the 1960s and the important role that Nova Scotian Dr. Ron Stewart played in its development.
From Nova Scotia to Los Angeles, Pittsburgh to Toronto, and finally back to Nova Scotia, Dr. Stewart and writer Jim Meek tell some fascinating stories about this emerging discipline of medicine.
Dr. Stewart's part in it all is a subject all Nova Scotians, and Canadians, should know more about and will through this riveting read.
From Nova Scotia to Los Angeles, Pittsburgh to Toronto, and finally back to Nova Scotia, Dr. Stewart and writer Jim Meek tell some fascinating stories about this emerging discipline of medicine.
Dr. Stewart's part in it all is a subject all Nova Scotians, and Canadians, should know more about and will through this riveting read.
January 20, 2025
I knew Ron personally, and loved the man, as did anyone else who witnessed his determination, skills, and wonderful, kind personality. I am thrilled he got the book he dreamed of having, co-authored with Jim Meek, before his death in 2024. The low rating has nothing at all to do with the story itself --it is remarkable and impressive. The writing of the story was almost all "tell" instead of the much more engaging "show" that brings prose alive, and which leads me to this rating. Anyone who knew Ron, though, should definitely get and read this book in honor of a truly great man.
August 6, 2024
I loved this book. The writing is excellent and the pacing is perfect. The book is touching, but with some very well placed humour. The book also functions as a great history of modern emergency medicine. Impressively, Dr. Stewart had many great accomplishments which he described without the least bit of bragging. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of medicine. Thank you to Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for the advance reader copy.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews