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Medic 16, Medic 16: Chronicles of a Street Medic
by Mark Praschak
As a junior volunteer, Mark Praschak dreamed, and as a teenage Firefighter/EMT he learned about life and death, first hand. The challenges the author faced made him yearn for more skills and knowledge, as he matured in the profession, and in life.
After losing his way for six years, Mark reentered the Service with a vengeance. He catapulted to the rank of Firefighter/Paramedic and started his professional career with the Baltimore City Fire Department.
In the short time he spent at Medic 16, he’d see things that were unimaginable, call after call. He brought life into the world for the first time, but saw more lives lost. The job became a daily battle with the demon of the Service: “burn-out.” He witnessed its evil and struggled to deal with its delicate balance. Mark turns to his mentors, in a desperate attempt to survive. Their wisdom and experience show him the way. He was programmed like a machine to carry on. The challenges were many and the rewards few, but he won the battle, retiring from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department as a decorated veteran at the age of 48. All of the stories here are true. Some are uplifting and some are hilarious, but most of them are sobering and teach us that life is fragile; handle with care.
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