People Care : Career-Friendly Practices for Professional Caregivers

by Thom Dick

When you kneel in front of somebody''s grandpa who''s sitting on his couch and denying his chest pain, you need to recognize the pain he says isn''t there, detect the shortness of breath he hasn''t mentioned and sense the fear that''s absolutely dominating his consciousness. You need to appreciate the fact that his spouse, seated right there next to him, is scared to death she''s never going to sleep with him again. And somehow, you need to make everything better in just a few minutes. Thes are the dynamics of even the simplest emergency response. The presuppose the presence of gifts in us that not even the greatest teacher can impart - gifts that, unfortunately, come without instructions. This book is an examination of those gifts and a collection of the instructions that didn''t come with them. It''s based on the collective experience and wisdom of dozens of professsional paramedics and EMTs worldwide who learned to love the lifelong pursuit of helping others.

Genres: Medical, Nonfiction

84 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2005

Reviews

[K.Q. Webster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots a good reminders of the little things you can do that add up to shaping you into a great provider.

[Ben Savage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't going to count this towards my yearly goals. But every caregiver, from the greenest of green EMTs to the most seasoned pre hospital carer/ most technially specialized people, should read this book.
A common sense approach with sporadic personal anecdotes to patient care, this also ties into the 'executive leadership' all the rage in some circles today.
It's simple stuff, laid out for all to be able to understand.
It's the simple stuff that makes the job go round.

This is one of the few books I will recommend to anyone, any time.

[Athena Ryals · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as required reading for my EMT school 5 and 1/2 years ago. I'm so glad I read it again. The book is straightforward and no-nonsense about some hard truths about EMS. Thom is empathetic, compassionate, and sometimes a hardass. But he gets his point across: if you don't care about people, it's to everyone's benefit that you don't stay in EMS. I'd recommend it to anyone looking to go into the field, and anyone who's been in the field for a while.

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be mandatory reading for anybody studying or working in healthcare. Particularly Emergency Healthcare. It's helped me immensely, I think about it on almost every shift and mentally reference certain passages and chapters constantly. Simply put it's about the "care" in healthcare and it's just so easily forgotten. I've never highlighted so much from a bloody book before.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this one for Paramedic School but I honestly enjoyed it so much and got so much out of it. I think every single person going into EMS or currently in EMS should be required to read this book.

[Mark Dao · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best (if not the best) EMS “textbooks” ever! I firmly believe that every EMS providers must read this book at least once.

[Ell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this at the beginning of my career years ago, it's my recommendation for anyone new or old in the field. A must read and re-read when needed.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can not recommend this book enough. Should be required reading for everyone in EMS. Love it.

[Keith Champney · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I don't agree with absolutely everything the author states, I think this is an excellent book that everyone in EMS should read and everyone in EMS management should read twice.