Riding the Lightning: A Year in the Life of a New York City Paramedic

by Anthony Almojera

Overview

“An intense look at the high-stakes world of a NYC paramedic in the months before and after COVID-19 altered our landscape.”—Damon Tweedy, MD, author of Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine

The education of a New York City paramedic, whose tales of tragedy and transcendence over a single year culminate in the greatest challenge the city’s emergency medical system has ever faced: COVID-19.

As a seasoned paramedic and union leader, Anthony Almojera thought he could handle anything his job threw at him. Like many medical first responders, he came from a troubled background and carried the traumas of the city as well as its triumphs. He had grown up in the rough-and-tumble Park Slope of the 1980s, been homeless for a time, and had watched murder, addiction, and hopelessness consume those closest to him. But he had dedicated his life to helping people in need, and while every day was filled with tragedy—stabbings, shootings, accidents, suicides—it also brought moments of uplift: births, resuscitations, and rescues that reminded Anthony and his coworkers why EMS was the most thrilling job on earth, even if the pay was lousy and the hours were long.

So when a strange new virus began spreading in New York, Anthony and his fellow medics were ready. They had done the biohazard drills; they knew the procedures, and how to handle the sick and the bereaved. They believed that their lives and training had prepared them for this new challenge. But the months ahead would prove them wrong, and would push New York’s EMS workers, and Anthony himself, to the breaking point—and beyond.

Following one paramedic into hell and back, Riding the Lightning tells the story of New York City’s darkest days through the eyes of its frontline medical workers and the community they serve: ordinary people who will continue to make New York an extraordinary place long after it has been reborn from the ashes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358652878
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/07/2022
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	644,455
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

ANTHONY ALMOJERA is an FDNY EMS lieutenant and vice president of AFSCME DC37 Local 3621, the New York City Fire Department’s EMS officers’ union. He has been profiled on the front page of the Washington Post and featured by CNN, Al Jazeera, USA Today, NPR, the BBC, and numerous other media outlets. Born in Brooklyn, he is a practicing Buddhist and works a third job as an on-site paramedic at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. He lives in Brooklyn.

Editorial Reviews

2022-04-26
A ride-along adventure with a seasoned paramedic through some of New York City’s darker days.

A veteran lieutenant paramedic with the New York Fire Department, one of the country’s largest and busiest, Almojera begins strong with an introductory story about the harrowing ravages of Covid-19 in early 2020. As the author recounts, his biggest career challenges arrived with the first wave of the virus. After the suspenseful early pages, Almojera shares the details of his middle-class Brooklyn upbringing as an intuitive student fighting the rising tide of an increasingly dysfunctional family while expressing appreciation for the seasoned mentor who ushered him into the medical response business. In the spring of 2020, drastically overwhelmed by a mounting, seemingly unstoppable Covid-19 death toll in New York City, Almojera admits the first wave of the pandemic “broke us.” Even worse were the residual grief and anxiety that ruthlessly engulfed EMS workers; suicides, resignations, and total burnout were all part of the new normal within a department already hobbled by mismanagement, undercompensation, and rampant staff turnover. The episodes and memories the author evokes form a tapestry of compassion, dedication, and suffering, ranging from bloody, grisly scenes to excruciatingly sad, inspiring, and uplifting moments with the public he serves. Almojera also writes about how the unique mixture of EMTs he has worked with, whom he calls his surrogate family, formed a safety net of mutual support and solidarity. Running alongside Almojera’s frantic work duties is a chronicle of his personal life, which remained fractured by the tragic murder of his troubled brother, Richie, and memories of his father’s clandestine extramarital affairs. Dedicated to “broken people everywhere,” this book brings the experience of an urban medical response worker into vivid focus, and aspiring EMT’s will find the narrative alternately harrowing, revealing, and invaluable.

A page-turning and reflective journey through a year in a pandemic-era metropolis.

Kirkus Reviews

[An] engrossing, first-hand account…This is a tale of resilience, told with a feeling for the grittiness, cultural vibrancy, and immediacy of this multi-ethnic city.” — Library Journal (starred review)

"Page-turning and reflective … a tapestry of compassion, dedication, and suffering, ranging from bloody, grisly scenes to excruciatingly sad, inspiring, and uplifting moments.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Almojera explores the physical and emotional flaws of the city residents that he treats and incisively turns the mirror back on himself in the process to reveal his own shortcomings. We also see in clear detail how the system itself is every bit as sick as the people it is charged to serve.”   — Damon Tweedy, MD, author of Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor's Reflections on Race and Medicine

“Devastating, candid and vital. Almojera guides us, one month at a time, through the tragic first year of the pandemic as seen through the cracked windshield of a New York City ambulance. He doesn’t blink while recounting the price medics have willingly paid to save our lives or the ways that we, collectively, have let them down. This book is a critical addition to the literature of our moment. Almojera lays bare what we’ve just survived, and what we’re trying to survive still.”
— Kevin Hazzard, author of A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

“A must-read. Anthony Almojera’s harrowing book traces the life of one paramedic during Covid, offering an unforgettable narrative from the front lines of the battle against the virus, and detailing indescribable loss—but also the power of hope, and the heroism of the first responders who care for our communities.” — Kevin Grange, author of Wild Rescues: A Paramedic’s Extreme Adventures in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton and Lights and Sirens: The Education of a Paramedic

"From the moment I picked up Anthony's book, I couldn't put it down. His account of fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York City is raw and riveting, and reveals in unforgettable detail how humanity was tested in the early days, weeks, and months of the pandemic. Anthony's gifted storytelling invites the reader to sneak a glimpse of that little something we all keep hidden inside us, and assures us that embracing our vulnerability will only make us stronger. I can't recommend this book enough for everyone to read." — Andrew Gounardes, New York State Senator

"Riding the Lightning is a fast-moving chronicle of some of the darkest days New York City has ever known, and a testament to the heroes who helped us survive. With all eyes on New York City—the epicenter of the pandemic—fearless street doctors like Anthony bore the weight of the world by day and the weight of their experiences by night. This book is proof of why there should be no second-class first responders when payday comes. EMS workers are supernatural souls who deserve our respect and a raise." — Justin Brannan, New York City Councilman & Chairman of the Finance Committee

“Anthony Almojera's gut-wrenching, courageous, unsparing memoir may be as close as many of us will ever get to the front seat of an ambulance, but the pages within will change you as well as your understanding of emergency medicine forever. Reading this book is an act of solidarity, a way of honoring the immense sacrifices of EMTs and paramedics during the COVID-19 pandemic by trying to understand them. It’s the least we can do.” — Bryan Doerries, author of The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today

From the Publisher

An intense look at the high-stakes world of a NYC paramedic in the months before and after COVID-19 altered our landscape. Almojera explores the physical and emotional flaws of the city residents that he treats and incisively turns the mirror back on himself in the process to reveal his own shortcomings. We also see in clear detail how the system itself is every bit as sick as the people it is charged to serve.”  

Damon Tweedy

Anthony Almojera's gut-wrenching, courageous, unsparing memoir may be as close as many of us will ever get to the front seat of an ambulance, but the pages within will change you as well as your understanding of emergency medicine forever. Reading this book is an act of solidarity, a way of honoring the immense sacrifices of EMTs and paramedics during the COVID-19 pandemic by trying to understand them. It’s the least we can do.

Bryan Doerries

"From the moment I picked up Anthony's book, I couldn't put it down. His account of fighting on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York City is raw and riveting, and reveals in unforgettable detail how humanity was tested in the early days, weeks, and months of the pandemic. Anthony's gifted storytelling invites the reader to sneak a glimpse of that little something we all keep hidden inside us, and assures us that embracing our vulnerability will only make us stronger. I can't recommend this book enough for everyone to read."

Andrew Gounardes

A must-read. Anthony Almojera’s harrowing book traces the life of one paramedic during Covid, offering an unforgettable narrative from the front lines of the battle against the virus, and detailing indescribable loss—but also the power of hope, and the heroism of the first responders who care for our communities.

Kevin Grange

Devastating, candid and vital. Almojera guides us, one month at a time, through the tragic first year of the pandemic as seen through the cracked windshield of a New York City ambulance. He doesn’t blink while recounting the price medics have willingly paid to save our lives or the ways that we, collectively, have let them down. This book is a critical addition to the literature of our moment. Almojera lays bare what we’ve just survived, and what we’re trying to survive still.”

Kevin Hazzard

"Riding the Lightning is a fast-moving chronicle of some of the darkest days New York City has ever known, and a testament to the heroes who helped us survive. With all eyes on New York City—the epicenter of the pandemic—fearless street doctors like Anthony bore the weight of the world by day and the weight of their experiences by night. This book is proof of why there should be no second-class first responders when payday comes. EMS workers are supernatural souls who deserve our respect and a raise."

Justin Brannan

★ 05/01/2022

In his engrossing first-hand account, Almojera describes being a New York City emergency medical services responder in early 2020 when the COVID virus appeared and highlighted inequities and divisions in the United States' largest populated city. This is a tale of resilience, told with a feeling for the grittiness, cultural vibrancy, and immediacy of multi-ethnic New York City. Almojera, a 17-year veteran of the FDNY EMS, explains that pre-pandemic, turnover among his colleagues was already high, and pay was low for employees of both New York's municipal and its private ambulance services, even as they attended to victims of accidents, assaults, and suicides. He also shares the frenzied and addicting nature of his EMS work, defines paramedics' medical shorthand, and gives his frank opinions of politicians and other public figures. Comparable (albeit pre-COVID) paramedic narratives include Kevin Grange's Lights and Sirens and Patrick Ramsey's Life, Death, or Somewhere In-Between. VERDICT Fans of TV shows about emergency medicine will appreciate the fast, episodic pace and life lessons of Almojera's memoir.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Library Journal