Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself by Becoming an EMT

Rating:
Summary: A definite "Buy"
Review: My only complaint about this book is -- it is too SHORT!

Rating:
Summary: Quick and Light
Review: Quick and entertaining memoir of one woman's journey from isolation and agoraphobia to becoming a trained EMT and loving it. The book mainly centers on this theme, but also talks about marital problems, terrorism and parental abuse. Stern finally feels comfortable with life when, at the end of the book, she is given a position of prestiege at the firehouse where she is based. Nice, light and upbeat.

Rating:
Summary: Great Inspiration Story
Review: This a great book, pretty much for anybody, especially inspirational for EMT students & prospecting students. I picked up this book while I was in EMT school, it helped give me the strength to get through my gruelling course & go onto a great career! Great job, Jane Stern, good for you!!

Rating:
Summary: Very Inspiring
Review: This book is about turning your life around.
Jane Stern, overweight, depressed, and a self described "female Woody Allen", decided to become an EMT at the age of 52.
The story is told with candor and wit, and I did find myself laughing out loud (gives new meaning to the words "major wedgie").
But most of all, you come away feeling that if Jane Stern, with all of her "issues" and problems, can find meaning and purpose and joy in her life, than you can also.It's never too late.

Rating:
Summary: Very Inspiring
Review: This book is about turning your life around.
Jane Stern, overweight, depressed, and a self described "female Woody Allen", decided to become an EMT at the age of 52.
The story is told with candor and wit, and I did find myself laughing out loud (gives new meaning to the words "major wedgie").
But most of all, you come away feeling that if Jane Stern, with all of her "issues" and problems, can find meaning and purpose and joy in her life, than you can also.It's never too late.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun
Review: This book was a lot of fun, interspersed with serious topics regarding depression, illness, marital problems, and emergency medicine. I loved it. It inspired me and I was very sorry when the book ended! Jane Stern has a wonderful sense of humor and presents sad and unfortunate events with a wise and compassionate eye. This is one book I will keep on my bookshelf to read again later, especially on a down day.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not quite what I was expecting
Review: This is an autobiographical story of Stern's experiences as an EMT, and is heavily filtered through the lens of her emotional baggage. As a former EMT, I was expecting to find a lot of common ground in this book, and was somewhat surprised at how little I found. Sure, the job is basically the same, and some of her calls are earily similar to some of mine, but her point of view is very different from mine. This isn't a bad thing, though, as it was a good reminder that individuals are unique, and that their stories, however similar, are also unique.

While this book does give some insight into the life of a volunteer EMT, I would caution readers not to assume that Stern's experiences are typical. This is also a good story about personal growth and one person's struggle with her demons. In many ways, these are the book's greatest strengths.

One final point...while the use of the coarse language certainly is an accurate depiction of how firefighters and EMTs talk, here it came across as gratuitous. Some readers might find it offensive, and its use doesn't seem serve the story.

Rating:
Summary: Laughing out Loud!
Review: This was one of the funniest books I have ever read. Jane's self depricating sense of humor and her honesty about her hang-ups will keep you chuckling all the way through. What's a nice girl like Jane doing in an ambulance? Learning to face her fears and balance her life from the isolation she experienced as a writer. Her hilarious thoughts and experiences while fumbling through EMT school will amuse you and make people around you wonder what you are laughing about! I love her style of writing and would read another of her books in a minute except I think they are all cooking books and I don't cook. I highly recommend this book for a quick weekend read.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read With Great Laughs
Review: What a wonderful book this is! I had expected Jane Stern's solo production would be well written and interesting since I have enjoyed her and her husband, Michael's, pieces in Gourmet and The New Yorker. But what a surprise! This book was so FUNNY!!! In fact, I cannot remember when I read a book that had me laughing out loud so many times. I knew "Ambulance Girl" was about Jane's saving herself, and thought, well, I guess it's another survivor story. And it is. But while so many of those other efforts are self-absorbed and in too many cases just trading one kind of self obsession with another, Jane avoids that. With a clear eye to who and what she is and without any self-pity, Jane helps herself by helping neighbors and strangers who are in trouble -- the kind of trouble most of us would much rather someone else handle.
Jane's writing is vivid and immediate, warm and moving and, gratefully, often hilarious. I loved this book. So did my 17-year-old daughter. Thanks to Jane, not only for giving me one of the best contemporary reading experiences I've had in a long time, but for being a great, dare I say it, role model. Thanks to her for not having liposuction, a face lift or an affair to make herself feel better. Thanks to her for doing something that really works -- getting out of oneself and doing some good. And thanks to Jane for putting it all down with sensitivity, humor and great skill. Buy this book, and don't be surprised it you think of this friend, and then that friend, who should read it, too. Makes a great gift!