Book Corner: April 2008

Life and EMS up here on the northern edge of the San Juan Mountains continues to be active and rewarding. But like a lyric from that Johnny Cash song, A BOY NAMED SUE, lately "we're a kickin' and a gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer."

It is that magic time in the mountains that while we can still get a snowstorm or even a blizzard, (we've had them on the 4th of July,) we have officially moved from winter, to mud season. The winter tourist season is over, the calves have been born, the sheep shorn and everyone takes a moment to reset and prepare for summer. And it also that time of year when almost no one wears shoes indoors and the ambulances get washed a lot.

It has also been a good time for some quality reading and in this first review, DVD watching. As I've mentioned in previous columns, and much to my long suffering but not always patient bride Vicki's regret, I am on the mailing list for Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers. This is one of several companies that takes the returns from bookstores of books - printed and audio - along with the occasional DVD special and resells them at sometimes deeply discounted prices. It's a lot like panning for gold or silver; you go through an awful lot of silt to find the occasional nugget.

One of those nuggets is a History Channel Special entitled FRONTIER DOCTORS. The bullet: this 50-minute special documents the practice and history of medicine along the American frontier during the 17 & 1800s. It looks at what constituted the state and art of medical training back then and the use of herbal medicinals, mostly learned from the local Indians. This, along with charlatans and snake oil salesmen, are all combined to create what was the standard of out of hospital care at the time.

FRONTIER DOCTORS the DVD is sold online at the History Channel Store for $24.95. However it is available from Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers for $7.95 plus $3.50 S&H. (That's not for each item. It is a set fee per order whether that order is for one item or 30.)

In Search of History: FRONTIER DOCTORS
Item #7038038 at Edward R. Hamilton Booksellers
Also available new and used at Amazon.com

Switching to the printed media, next is NOT ON MY WATCH: The 21st Century Combat Medic by Joshua M. Peters & John R. Fansler. To begin with, NOT ON MY WATCH is a self-published book through one of the vanity presses, which means little in the way of professional editing. This is a shame because U.S. Army combat medics Peters & Fansler have a lot to share, but their account is uneven and sort of peters out at the end, all things that could have been taken care of with some good editorial direction.

With that said, I really enjoyed the first two thirds to three quarters of NOT ON MY WATCH. Josh Peters was a member of the 82nd Airborne stationed stateside when the events of September 11th, 2001 occurred. His unit was deployed to Afghanistan where he provided combat medical support in the mountains and valleys.

In the meantime, John Fansler joined the Army in response to the events of September 11th and after completing his basic and combat medic training was assigned to the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, where Josh Peters was reassigned after his Afghan combat tour. The two became friends and worked together through the unit's deployment to Iraq.

NOT ON MY WATCH provides snapshots of combat medicine in two theaters. The actual descriptions of Army life in both of these combat zones is very well handled from the worker bee's perspective. It culminates with a heck of a tale of EMS & rescue that literally blindsides medic Fansler in about as austere an environment as you can imagine.