Frog

A riveting ride along the knife edge of life and death from a frontline worker in one of our most crucial professions. Fiona Kelly McGregor, author of Iris

Frog, a term of endearment for intensive care paramedics, derives from the notion that everything they touch croaks. Sally Gould delivers a gripping and heartfelt memoir that dives into the unpredictable, often absurd, and sometimes heartbreaking reality of life as a paramedic.

Life as a paramedic, writes Sally Gould in this candid, witty memoir, can be traumatic, gross, dull, hilarious, magical. To make the cut, you need to be able to think outside the square, keep calm in the midst of chaos, be in possession of a strong stomach, and simply brush it off when patients die. That’s on top of having a profound understanding of the human body, plus the skills to counter its failings. It also helps to have a highly developed and oftentimes dark sense of humour.

But behind the sirens and the life-or-death scenes, and the absurdity of non-urgent callouts, a paramedic’s career is very different to how most people imagine it. Based on years of meticulously kept journals, Frog is an intimate look at the human cost of the job and the cumulative effect of trauma. Sally shares a personal story that is searingly honest and truly inspiring, one which offers a heartfelt tribute to the resilience, courage and camaraderie that define the high-stakes world of emergency medicine.