Talking Trauma

While racing to and from emergency calls, as paramedics wait and watch, and as they treat the traumatized, they tell stories. These mainly are for the ears of other paramedics. In this extraordinary world their stories intentionally trivialize pain and horror. Since the gothic gore they meet every day is business-as-usual, their tales can be cynical, flip, even profane and in-your-face. Talking Trauma gives an intimate look into a culture deliberately kept hidden from public view, a job precinct in which storytelling equips these professionals to exert control over chaos and to withstand suffering, death, and violence on a daily basis.