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

Michael K. Corman

Published by University of Toronto Press 2017

Paramedics On and Off the Streets

Emergency Medical Services in the Age of Technological Governance

Michael K. Corman

https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442629882

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Corman Michael K. :

Michael K.Corman is a principal advisor in the Department of Health and Wellness for the Government of Prince Edward Island and an adjunct professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and Faculty of Nursing at the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Reviews

Leo McCann, University of York:

"This is an important book that thoroughly updates and expands the limited sociological literature on emergency ambulance work."

Marjorie DeVault, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University:

"Paramedics On and Off the Streets has the appeal of an out-on-the-streets ethnography with an impressively detailed account of the work of paramedics. It is deeply significant, revealing connections and raising questions about emergency medical work."

Dug Andrusiek, on behalf of the Canadian EMS Research Network – Réseau canadien de recherche en soins préhospitaliers:

"Corman’s Paramedics On and Off the Streets helps　the reader understand the work of modern paramedicine.　He builds a complex picture of EMS as a critical component of the healthcare system which often receives little serious intellectual and academic attention. The reader of this book will truly understand why paramedics and EMS practitioners prefer to not be called ambulance drivers!"

Dorothy E. Smith, Department of Sociology, University of Victoria:

"This is a remarkable book. Corman describes for us just what is involved in doing the work of paramedics. If you’ve ever been taken to hospital by ambulance, this will give you whole new understanding of just what’s involved in getting you there. But more than that, Corman also tells us how paramedical work complements that of emergency nurses and how it is organized by the work of dispatchers, call-takers, and supervisors, and by the digitized information and managerial technologies they work with. We can begin to see yet another layer of organization in systems of managerial accountability aimed at controlling costs. In the vivid precision of his account, Corman also brings into view a contradiction between the particularities and complexities that are the everyday realities of paramedical work, and the standardizing technologies that can never fully take them into account."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List of Figures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xi
Permissions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
Abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xv
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
Part One
2. Setting the Scene Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	25
3. “The Hospital’s Going to Complain” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
4. “That Was a Gooder” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
5. Overview and Discussion of Chapters 2–4 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
Part Two
6. The “Brains” of EMS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
7. Taming and Creating Knowledge of Front-Line Work Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
8. Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215

Language: English
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Audience: College/higher education;Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 240
Illustrations
- Other: 4 Figures

eBook

Published: September 10, 2018
ISBN: 9781442629882