Maybe after reading this book you will never look at an ambulance the same way again. Perhaps you will remember the stories that Martin Viau tells in One last ambulance rideand that you will remain pensive imagining the calls to which the two paramedics seated in the front of the vehicle have had to respond since they have been in uniform.
As the pages turn, Martin Viau wonders if oblivion will be possible one day. Some may want to skip passages that contain (very) detailed descriptions — the reader is warned of this.
No, you don’t get used to seeing horror scenes, says the paramedic (the term he prefers to use, rather than paramedic or paramedic) cautiously. “It’s the details that will stay, that come to get you. You don’t know which ones it’s going to be, you don’t know why or when they’re going to come get you; maybe it will be on the spot, maybe it will be weeks later,” says Martin Viau.
The first text of the book, he had written it in 2015, after a brutal accident between his ambulance and another vehicle which earned him a serious concussion. But Martin Viau seriously took up writing last year, when he was wondering about his future in this profession, which he has been practicing for almost 14 years.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARTIN VIAU
Martin Viau’s damaged ambulance, in 2015
“Writing has done me good. I needed a step back, ”he says today, when he now works part-time after returning to school.
If his book does indeed come back to his personal experiences – a mixture of striking situations, horror scenes, too, and even significant dreams that followed traumatic shocks -, it is also intended as a plea for better working conditions for him and his peers, supported by many facts and statistics.
I wanted to tell our daily life, but at the same time, I couldn’t miss the conditions in which we practice. Then at some point, when you put the two together, it becomes absurd. How can you demand so much of someone and then give so little in return?
Martin Viau
Attrition, in his opinion, is at the same time physical, psychological, emotional. And yet, paramedics do not have the possibility of retiring after a certain number of years of service like police officers, for example.
Daily support
His wife — and the mother of his children — Martin Viau met her through her work, since she has the same job as him. “It has always been a plus for us. From the beginning, we didn’t set limits, we told each other our calls and we were always there for each other. It worked well and it still works, but it’s a delicate balance; one must be careful not to overload the other. If my spouse is on leave and I arrive and tell her about my calls, I transfer a little of the burden to her as well. »
Sometimes they even manage to work together — something other couples, he concedes, prefer to avoid.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARTIN VIAU
Martin Viau and his spouse, during a shared shift at Christmas
Today, she also works as a part-time paramedic, in addition to having a second job. A way to reduce the mental and physical load that comes with the job, while having more time to recover.
Giving up completely, Martin Viau is not yet ready to do so. “I still love what I do. I admit that I love adrenaline, but it’s not always that. There are days when I can make six, seven, eight calls, and it won’t really be emergencies. It’s human relations, helping people, supervising them, giving them care… Sometimes, it’s just giving them a presence. »
“Then there is something that I do not neglect, he adds, it is the relationship we have with our colleagues. We spend so much time with them, we live intense moments. »
Stories to tell, Martin Viau still has plenty. One thing is certain, this first book will surely not be his last, he says with determination.
One Last Ambulance Ride — Stories from a Paramedic
Martin Viau
Journal Editions
312 pages