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According to the book description of
Rescuing Providence, “Lieutenant Michael Morse of the Providence, Rhode Island, Fire Department
takes you along for 34 nonstop hours in the life of a big-city fireman/emergency medical technician. Ride through the tough
streets of South Providence, the historic mansions on the East Side and the tattered but emerging West End as Morse and his
EMS team respond to drug overdoses, heart attacks, car accidents, gunshot wounds, suicides, alcoholics, premature births,
broken bones and other medical emergencies that are all in a day’s work for them. The brave men and women who make up
our nation’s EMS system willingly risk their lives every day to save people they don’t know and often cannot communicate
with. See for yourself how difficult, frustrating and at times heartbreaking this job can be, as lives are lost, scarce medical
resources squandered, futures altered, and hope abandoned and then reborn. Despite this, most rescue workers cannot imagine
doing anything else. For them, every day is different, every patient is unique and they know with certainty that they make
a difference in people’s lives. And, as Lieutenant Morse so eloquently states, sometimes it is the rescuers whose lives
are saved by the job they do. This touching, humorous, life-affirming memoir offers intriguing insight into the human condition
and the best and worst of our 911 and health-care systems.
On reader of reader of Rescuing
Providence said, it “is a fast-paced book in which the author, Michael Morse, takes you along for the
ride as he and his fellow officers respond to 24 emergency calls in a 34-hour period. Morse is a surprisingly good writer
who makes you feel as if you're right there with him as he races from one call to the next. But this isn't the Hollywood version
of rescue work, where every call is a major event. This is the real deal, meaning that Morse spends just as much time handling
minor injuries and carting drunks to detox as he does dealing with matters of life and death. In fact, it's in many of these
smaller stories that the real heart of the book lies, as we see the compassionate side of the people who help not only those
in real need of emergency services, but also those who simply can't help themselves. Morse's book ought to be required reading
for all prospective firefighters and EMTs. For the rest of us, it's a fascinating glimpse into the daily lives of the people
who do a critical job that is often dangerous, sometimes thankless, but ultimately rewarding.”
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