cover image Silent Alarm

Silent Alarm

Steven L. Schrader, Steven Shrader. Gallaudet University Press, $24.95 (129pp) ISBN 978-1-56368-044-1

In a frank, quick-paced personal narrative filled with humor, drama, and grim reality, Schrader relates the day-to-day drama of dealing with human catastrophe as a firefighter and emergency medical technician on the streets of Atlanta. His deafness was almost an afterthought, although Schrader often had to fight discrimination in his job. With courage and without fanfare, he fulfilled his dream of being an EMT, building a 15-year career and one of the longest service records in the city at the time. The gritty and gutsy details of many of the calls for help that he describes will grip readers. Writes Schrader, ""we expected the unexpected and when we were lucky, we helped those who really needed it."" For popular collections.--Emily Ferren, Carroll Cty. P.L., Westminster, Md.