Andy Thompson has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 1 narrator, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is The Dark Side.
The Dark Side
Summary
Andy Thompson's true-to-life, graphic, and gripping account of his work as an NHS paramedic in Britain's Accident and Emergency Ambulance Service will shock you, sadden you, entertain you, and perhaps inspire you. You'll smile at some of Andy's real patient encounters, while others will cause you to wipe a tear. Using official NHS documentation recorded at the time to give precise details of each incident, Andy has held firm to the real-life accounts, even in keeping the dialogue as close as his memory allows to what was really said at the time. It's as if you're there next to him, struggling with the effects of adrenaline and fighting to save life. This is a rare work of medical nonfiction delivered in a way that is factual, informative, but at the same time naturally entertaining and moving, written with candour and humour. And if you have ever thought what it takes to become a paramedic - or any other of the specialist vocations - and that you could never achieve it yourself, Andy's inspiring story of how he went from postman to frontline healthcare professional, fulfilling his dream, will make you think again that anything is possible if you have the desire. Andy says there are no heroics in the book and that he simply did his job, but we are sure The Dark Side will leave you convinced there are true heroes on our streets right here, right now. Saving lives every day, every night and often against all the odds. It might even change your whole perspective on life.
©2014 Andy Thompson (P)2015 Andy Thompson
The Dark Side, Part 2
Summary
Following up on his well-received first book, Andy Thompson provides another captivating, thought-provoking, and at times intense glimpse into the daily life of a paramedic working in the UK's National Health Service. In the style of his first book, Andy recalls each event from the detailed documentation recorded at the time. Each account is written in a way that puts the listener right there next to him, so you live the events in real time. You'll hear the dialogue between paramedics, patients, their loved ones, and other health-care professionals as it would have been. You'll also share in Andy's thought processes during each of the 10 very different situations he encounters. The term "the dark side" describes the frontline emergency aspect of the ambulance service, since paramedics frequently experience somber situations. In The Dark Side, Part 2, you will share in some truly traumatic, tragic, and tearful events involving a seemingly healthy young patient, a prison inmate, the victims of a horrific car crash, heart attacks, a frightening epileptic fit, the alarming effects of an allergic reaction, and what can happen when under-strain doctors prescribe the wrong medications. But there's still room for lighthearted moments and a taste of the sometimes dark humor that allows paramedics to continually deal with events most of us would find too horrific. The detail in the descriptions of the care given to each patient on-scene by Andy and his colleagues will have you marveling at the ability of these health-care professionals to work at such speed of thought, buying enough time to deliver a patient into the specialist hands of hospital care. There are inevitably also those times when tears of hope turn to tears of despair for loved ones. You cannot feel that pain until it happens to you, but this book will bring you mighty close to it at times.
©2014 Andy Thompson (P)2015 Andy Thompson
The Lighter Side
Summary
From the paramedic pondering a dignified solution as he surveys his previously digested Pot Noodle adorning the naked genitalia of a recently deceased lady, to the man who rang the doctor Out of Hours service with an audibly severe case of excess flatulence, with hilarious consequences, and the old lady's wig that caused one chuckling paramedic to struggle to keep a hold of the carry-chair, The Lighter Side - An NHS Paramedic's Selection of Humorous Mess Room Tales will have you laughing out loud then looking around furtively, wondering if you should! In his The Dark Side series, Andy Thompson gives us a taste of the dark sense of humor paramedics use as a coping mechanism; here he packs laugh-out-loud moments into every word as he recalls health care professionals' encounters with the weirdest of behavior, hilarious misunderstandings, and cringingly embarrassing episodes. You'll soon be relating to the sense of humor that moves an ambulance driver to respond to his friend and fellow paramedic's predicament on a hot summer's day, as a powerful smell engulfs the saloon of the vehicle. What would you do? Open the cab windows and the hatch through to the saloon to provide some extra ventilation? Of course not! You switch the heating on, causing the already intolerable pong to become even more unbearable, making for a bangin' mess room tale on your later return! This book is an eye-watering insight into the Lighter Side of working on the Dark Side, straight from the mess rooms of ambulance stations up and down the UK. There's also a heartening reminder of the power of a flamin' good belly laugh and its analgesic effect even in situations of severe pain. This is a book that laughs in the face of extreme emotion and stress. Outrageous? Perhaps. Distasteful? Probably. Humorous? Absolutely!
©2016 Andy Thompson (P)2016 Andy Thompson