More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea

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 show more 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. show less

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.

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

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.

This book contains lots of short stories and musings from the author's life as an EMT in London. I found some of the stories to be funny, some sad, some touching, and some to be anger-inducing. It was also interesting to get an insider look at the day to day workings of an ambulance crew. Knowing about the government hoops that they have to jump through and the people that they have to deal with makes me appreciate them a lot more.

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

A collection of blogs by a London ambulance driver. They're funny, tragic and maddening. And Oh the horror of government run healthcare