Editor’s note: Medic, a Diary by Dave Horowitz is a graphic memoir of a paramedic’s decade on the ambulance and is available on Amazon.
A few weeks ago, a non-EMS friend of mine shared a post she saw on the r/comics subreddit– a vignette that showed a medic’s experience responding to the spike in overdoses during the early days of the pandemic. I was struck immediately by how familiar it felt — the ZOLL monitor on the chair, the angry reactions of puking patients, police officers giving 24 mg of nasal naloxone. The paramedic even looked familiar.
Oh, this is a real one, I thought, EMS is truly universal, isn’t it?
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I showed my husband, who is also a paramedic. He chuckled at the scenes and then said, “Huh, those look like Dave’s comics.”
“Horowitz?” I asked.
I followed some links, and, lo and behold, the comic was created by our colleague, neighbor and fellow IAEP Local R2-20 member, Dave Horowitz. Even though it turns out that I did know the medic in the drawing, I still hold that the subtle details and the dark sense of humor imbued in the pages of his book are universal to any EMS provider nationwide. I ordered a copy for myself immediately (and four extras for friends and family).
I read the 217-page graphic memoir in a single sitting because it was so compelling and relatable, I simply didn’t want to put it down. I caught myself both laughing out loud and tearing up multiple times. As I finished, my overwhelming feeling was that of being “seen” on a surprisingly deep level.
Dave managed to hit the nail on the head in capturing the unique experience of being an EMS professional in the midst of a broken prehospital healthcare system. He illustrated scenes that any provider will find familiar, down to the most subtle of details that will likely make every EMS provider giggle. But he was also hauntingly honest about the effect of burnout on the providers — both by illustrating the jarringly grumpy demeanor of some partners he had to work with, as well as showing his own experience with burnout later.
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Dave didn’t start in EMS as a teen like many of us do. Originally a children’s book author and climbing guide, EMS was not his first career. The book chronicles Dave’s path from being an eager new EMT, through the bankruptcy of a commercial agency he lovingly referred to as “TrashCan,” on through the COVID-19 pandemic to the present moment.
Dave shared with me that the experience of illustrating and writing the book served as a cathartic release and a way to process his complicated grief the way he knew how. As he explains in the book’s description, he “has written and illustrated almost 20 popular books for children. This is not one of them.”
“I didn’t even know I was writing about PTSD,” Dave shared with me, but “you could literally see the PTSD evolve” throughout the pages.
I felt reminded of my own similar experiences within the field with each call he profiled. Perhaps the most essential aspect that Dave identified in our collective experiences as providers is that there is not one single “worst call” that impacts us, it’s the continuous exposure to “relentless suffering.” About the healthcare system, in general, Dave wrote, “even when the care was good, the care was terrible.”
Medic, A Diary is a concise, accurate and unfiltered window into the world of EMS. And perhaps, the next time someone asks you, “What is EMS like?” or, “What is the worst thing you’ve ever seen?” The best response would be to simply buy them this book. That’s what I plan to do.
Learn more about Dave and his comics here.
