Tom Reynolds (3)Reviews

This is a book in the published blog genre - Tom Reynolds is the pseudonym of a London EMP who blogs about his job. It was an interesting read, but because of the nature of the blog, never really felt complete. Lots of griping about the idiots who abuse the ambulance system, medical professionals who don't do their job, and other hazards of the job, with a few really touching anecdotes thrown in. I'm glad I read it but also glad I didn't pay money for it.

A collection of Brian Kellett's blog posts about being an ambulance technician for the London Ambulance Service. I've always found ambulance personnel admirable and finding out what a lot of crap they deal with (along with helping sick people) make me admire them even more. Very interesting and honest account of the job.

A collection of Brian Kellett's blog posts about being an ambulance technician for the London Ambulance Service. I've always found ambulance personnel admirable and finding out what a lot of crap they deal with (along with helping sick people) make me admire them even more. Very interesting and honest account of the job.

A collection of blog posts... to bad it still read that way when brought to printed form.

Very boringly written, speeding along with very little description or detail. He uses a lot of abbreviation and I couldn't make sense of that. Stopped reading pretty soon. Shame, because the subject matter is highly interesting to me.

Great reason not to get so drunk you need EMS

Good perspective on what emergency services go through. Makes me determined not to get so drunk that I need an ambulance.

A blog made into a book.

A run down of a London ambulance driver's typical day (or night). I always had a lot of respect for them--now even more so after reading how much they have to put up with day after day.

It would be funny over a few drinks or if you are an ambulance driver.

A fascinating look at the front line of the UK's emergency care.

Interesting read. Never thought about how much EMT's see drunks. I bet it gets pretty annoying after a while.

More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea is the followup to Blood, Sweat and a Cup of Tea, and has the same format: a collection of blog posts from the guy known on the internet as Tom Reynolds. Tom works in the London Ambulance Service, and through his blog posts he tells the stories of the dramatic, scary, funny, tragic, and silly things that happen during his work hours.
As with the first book, this book gives a behind the scenes look at how the ambulance service works. In itself that makes the book worthwhile if you are a bit of a behind-the-scenes geek. One of the things that struck me with the first book, and stuck with me for some time after, was the increased awareness of mortality, accidents, death, tragedy, and so on. This book does have some heart-breaking and disturbing stories, but fewer than what can be found in the first book.
What the book does have are more stories that are heart-breaking in a different way. In place of second-hand accounts recounting the pain of those who have lost their loved ones, we get the first-hand account of an ambulance worker who feels trapped in a system that doesn't allow for him to help people as much as he wishes he could. Quite a few of the blog posts make powerful political points which are made all the more poignant by the real-life stories that back them up. This probably makes the book harder to like, but in the best way possible. I wouldn't say it is more challenging than the first book, but it is challenging for different reasons.
(Yes, I am implying that a handful of people will probably be more disgusted by views that differ from their own than they would be by stories about internal organs falling out of bodies.)
In any case, I came away from the book feeling extremely thankful that people like the author care enough to do the underpaid, thankless and extremely important job that they do. I also came away from it feeling sorry for the author, appreciating his frustration at not being able to help as much as he would like to. However, having browsed over to his blog I found that he has since moved on to a different job where he gets to provide deeper care for society's most vulnerable, rather than having to perpetually save their lives due to a lack of proper care. He is probably still under-appreciated and underpaid, but hopefully he is happier, and an invaluable help to those fortunate enough to get it.

Both the Blood, Sweat and Cup of Tea books are available for free in a bunch of e-reader formats (including through Amazon), and I recommend them both.½

This book is a collection of ambulance stories and is cute for short in between reads when you don't want to start another book right away or know you don't have time to get caught up in a book. Each chapter is short and quick and doesn't lead into the next chapter so you can put the book down for a month and come back and not forget what it was about!

This book is a collection of ambulance stories and is cute for short in between reads when you don't want to start another book right away or know you don't have time to get caught up in a book. Each chapter is short and quick and doesn't lead into the next chapter so you can put the book down for a month and come back and not forget what it was about!

As sharp and as pithy as the previous book. Excellence in the job and in the style of writing. Another good read.

This book is an eye opener to how the emergency services conduct business. Humorous because doing this job you have to be. Cantankerous because doing this job you have to be. Tears of laughter and tears of sympathy. A first class read.

Although I do not work for the NHS I found this a great insight into what they face each day and the sacrifices made often without thanks. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

Really interesting read that gives an insight into the life of an inner-city ambulance driver. I think the posts aren't completely linear as they seem to refer to things that happened in the first half of the book as if it were yesterday. So at some points it feels a bit disjointed.

Taken from a blog, reads like a blog. No points for style, but intriguing if you like these kind of tales, good for dipping in & out of.

Recommended by a friend, this was very much a random choice of reading material, and I am glad I chose it. It is a collection of blog-posts written by an employee of the London Ambulance Service. Through the posts, which are generally only a page or two long, the writer recounts regular, less regular, and rather irregular experiences he has had while on the job. Part of the reason I liked this book was the 'behind the scenes' look it gave at the ambulance service. If anything, it has reassured me that the Ambulance Service are dedicated people who know what they are doing, will help in the best way they can, and will, most of the time, provide an excellent service.

On the flip-side, large parts of this book are also very scary, disturbing, and incredibly dark to someone like me. While told in a factual, non-tabloid, manner, stories from real life about dead babies, heart attacks and crying relatives are never pleasant to read. Of course, the book also has its share of light-heartedness, and stories with happy endings. Overall I guess the book paints a picture of reality, with all the shades that go along with that. The book is very well written, rarely gets repetitive, and often got my heart beating faster as I wondered what the outcome of a particular 'job' was going to be. If you think you might like a book with real stories from an employee in the ambulance service, you will really like this book. If you don't, you might not. Either way, with a bit of Googling it is available (legally) as a free ebook, so you might as well give it a try.

Excellent insight into the working life of a medical professional. Some of the stories are pretty unbelievable and, sorry, very entertaining. However, it is reassuring to know that at least one of our 'caring services' really do care.

Well worth the read and very hard to put down.

I can't say that this was the most brilliant writing I've read or that the narrative was so beautiful it brought a tear to my eye. But I can say this was a good read. The author has this wonderful direct way of writing that makes you feel as if you were a friend listening to the every day details that really bring understanding of what it is like to walk in their shoes. And he has a tremendous sense of humor. This is what made me gravitate towards blogging all those years ago. Quite a find on Amazon for free! I wouldn't mind paying for this one at all

Don't be put off by the cover! The cover promises a link to a self consciously whacky sit com about happy go lucky ambulance staff on channel 4, or some other rubbish.
The contents are so much better! It is a collection of writings from a blog kept by a member of the London Ambulance Service, and is absolutely brilliant. Literally, all of human life is here, from the ridiculous to the profound - one minute it will move you to tears, the next day will make you laugh.
It is also, as if it has to be said, an indictment of the way that people (both the general public, and politicians) treat those who dedicate themselves to caring...
Highly Recommended.

Based on his blog the book is an easy read and gives an informed opinion of the day to day working of an ambulance driver.

An interesting look at a London area EMT and the daily grind that these heroes suffer through, from the weekend drunk calls to the heartbreaking cases of elderly people who need family more than an EMT. The calls from women in labor who simply want a ride to the hospital opened my eyes! The sad cases filled them with tears. This is his second book, the first being Blood Sweat & Tea which I've yet to read. They are based on his blog which is sure to be fun! Reynolds' stories go from humor to pathos in the same long shift.

The variety of cases the EMTs deal with and the regulations which at times seem crazy, make this a quick and thoroughly interesting read.

There are some jobs that we will know a great deal about: notably the ones we have done ourselves. There are others about which will have very little idea. What does a Structured Credit Derivatives Analyst do, for example? Whatever it is, it is currently advertised as paying twenty-five to thirty pounds an hour!

A job that I could easily daydream about is being a wine buyer for a company like Marks and Spencer or Sainsbury. A job that would whisk me away to the famous wine growing regions of the world: the plane setting down in Sydney or Johannesburg. Of course I feel sure there’s more to it than that, though apart from the skills and experience required, I bet there’s just got to be a lot of paperwork and meetings!
Two books that I have just finished reading, and which I offer for your consideration are: ‘Blood Sweat and Tea’, and ‘More Blood, More Sweat and another Cup of Tea,’ both by Tom Reynolds.

Tom is an Ambulance Technician working for the London Ambulance Service. These are not books for would be ambulance workers, they are certainly not in any way technical. They simply tell a story, and give a snap shot into what it is like to work on the LAS or any other Ambulance Service. These books began life as a BLOG. A blog, for those not familiar with the word is a contraction of the term "web log", and is a type of website maintained by someone who gives a commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as photographs or videos.

Before moving to the London Ambulance Service Tom began working for the NHS when he was twenty-three and specialised as an A&E nurse. He changed his career when he discovered that he wanted to 'torture the patients in A&E'. In his words, this is 'not healthy'. Frequently quoted in the national press he has kept his critically-acclaimed blog since 2003.

These two titles will give some surprising insights, some understanding of what you probably haven’t thought about, and give you a good, light hearted, sometimes humorous read: one that will inform you, and perhaps give you food for thought. I read these two titles in reverse order, and having finished I decided I preferred the first read. This may be because, in truth, eventually it became more of the same, and because I do this kind of thing for a living.

I recommend them because it could be about Halifax tonight, or any night of the week, and it could be about myself, or anyone of my friends and work colleagues (hopefully, not about you), and it should give some insight into what we get up to when you are tucked up in bed dreaming of being a wine buyer and drinking Rioja in the Spanish sun.
Enjoy!