Riding the Lightning: A Year in the Life of a New York City Paramedic

Almojera reflects on being a New York City paramedic during the COVID pandemic. EMS professionals are on the frontline of the city’s traumas, but nothing could have prepared this longtime, well-trained paramedic for the stress of working in a city ravaged by COVID. Almojera, who narrates his own book, tells the story of his life, and he reflects on a career in emergency medicine. Having grown up in the boroughs of New York City, the author is no stranger to trauma. His mother dealt drugs, his brother was murdered, and he fought his own addiction, depression, and struggles to become a successful union leader and lieutenant for his station. Almojera’s story is mirrored in the various people he serves with strength and dignity. His reflections on working during the beginning of a pandemic are poignant and often heartbreaking, as the world was still grappling with the enormity of this new virus.