Nee Naw: Real Life Dispatches From Ambulance Control

by Suzi Brent

Suzi: "Ambulance service, what's the problem?"
Caller: "Help! My baby's not breathing!"

When you dial 999 for an ambulance, Suzi's could be the voice you hear on the other end of the phone. Working in one of the country's busiest control rooms, it is her job to stay on the phone until the ambulance arrives, and to give instructions that could save your life.

From taking the first calls after the terrorist attacks on 7th July 2005, to delivering a baby over the phone, whether helping the child whose mum has attempted suicide, or dealing with the many regular callers - serial hoaxer The Banana Man, Sally the young alcoholic and Mad Brenda, each with their own surprising stories to tell - Suzi has heard it all.

Nee Naw will take you on a whirlwind tour of life in the emergency lane, introducing you to some unforgettable characters. Suzi Brent will make you laugh, she'll make you cry, but never again will you dial 999 for a broken finger...

Suzi: "Ambulance service, what's the problem?"
Caller: "I've eaten too much, and now I feel really sick. Can you die from eating too much?"

Genres: Nonfiction, Medical, Memoir, Medicine

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2010

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Teigan-Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and getting to understand how the call handling worked before pathways. Definitely a book everyone should have to read to understand how our job works and how they can make it easier for themselves and us. Highly recommend.

[Trish Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, should be ready by everyone so they understand how requesting and ambulance works, would save our NHS so much

[Kelly Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great little read. I actually feel I've learned something about those unknowns who send out ambulances and deal with life and death on a daily basis without recognition.

One minute I was laughing along with the author and the next devastated by the very real tragedy that she was so often involved in.

I've often thought I'd like to do her job but was never sure if I could handle it. Having finished the book, I'm still not sure if I could or not...

Highly recommended by me and it's not huge either so you could finish it in a few days...

[Julie Cohen]

Stories about people calling ambulances, from the funny to the tragic. I love this sort of thing.

[Effy · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Nee Naw
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Suzi Brent
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Medical memoir
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: Paperback
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: Penguin
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 05/03/10
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬: 320
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 5/5 ★
𝐂𝐖: mention of child death, hanging, trauma

I’ve worked for the ambulance service as an Emergency Medical Advisor for two years tomorrow so thought this was an apt time to post about this book. Like Suzi, this is a job I ended up in completely by chance and is now a massive part of my life.

As control room staff, we experience people’s very first seconds of pure panic and despair, and from the heart wrenching to the hilarious to the downright time-wasting, this was absolutely spot on. Suzi comes across as so honest and down to earth and I loved the blog style of writing, meaning short chapters and the bonus of being able to pick it up as and when— I literally read this cover to cover whilst on a shift but it’s still a point.

This was published in 2010 and I found it fascinating to see the differences in policies and the way things are dealt with, particularly the “no no go” rule surrounding CPR. I related so hard to the completely pointless calls received daily— some personal favourites I’ve received on the job have been “broken pinky toe”, “potty stuck on head” and “I can’t sleep”. I also loved the sections about frequent callers (still very much a real issue) and child callers (nearly always ten times more cooperative than adults). There were some really heartwarming stories too and as much as this job comes with it’s difficulties, it’s also incredibly rewarding.

This should be read by literally everyone. It should be compulsory school reading. Suzi explains the correct behaviour as a caller and why the questions are asked and must be answered- plus basic things like making sure you know the address and not hurling abuse while we’re trying to help you- (swipe to see the Ten Commandments of dialling 999). I highly recommend this to anyone wanting an insight into life in the control room.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a very good knowledge of first aid so hopefully I wouldn’t be as useless as the callers described in the book should I have to call 999. It did make me sad that there are so many rude, entitled people, who cannot grasp the concept of life threatening and seem to think that rules don’t apply to them. It was a very quick read and enlightening, I recommend.

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good UK healthcare vignette collection along the lines of 'This is Going To Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor" which I also recommend for people who liked this and vis-versa. Stories ranging from hilarious to poignant to heartbreaking to infuriating to wtf, but it all rang true without too much boring stuff or sensationalizing.

[Edmund Chattoe-Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those books you think ought to be good but it just isn't terribly well written/engaging and she starts by hectoring you about how to make a 999 call properly. This is, of course, very important but there is an art (a writer's art?) to getting people to do things without just banging on at them.

[hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic. Describes my role as a EMD perfectly

This was very literal and precise showing clear facts about las, fantastic read.
Thank you so much for publishing this.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

While some of the classifications have changed since this was written this is still an eye opening book into different parts of the ambulance service. There are regular callers everywhere, one emergency is never like another, provide information as the person on the end of the phone can give advice and support. Enlightening and well put together with some funny, some distressing and many different anecdotes. Short entries making it easy to dip in and out of. I highly enjoyed this book but then again there was some mild nostalgia in it for me having worked similar areas for a long time.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

and how was your day at work?

Suzi helped save a life. or answered an emeregency call from a man at an airport needing a banana. or listened as a grandchild saw grandma's dead body.

susi brent answers the phone at the 999 service in london. (quick note of frustration, this is a paperback someone picked up in england and brought over to the states, the writing is English not American. there is a glossary in the back for practicle things, not for explaining their language to us. 999 is 911. the book starts on july 7, 2005 a completely meaningless date over here, anybody on that side of the atlantic knows it as britian's nine-eleven. and i still don't know if tesco is a district, a shopping center or an oil refinery)

incredible read, life, death, crank's mom's broken wrist and "how can anybody live w/someone in That kind of job" is all in here.

my favorite story from the fifty or so i've read to My mom. guy w/a broken leg finds a phone booth and calls a cab to take him to the hospital, cab arrives, guy gets in. "you don't need a cab! you need an ambulance to take you to the hospital!" "No, that why i called you." cabbie drives the guy to the taxi barn, calls for an ambulance (suzi is now involved), "You need to send someone over now!" suzi- "can't you take him?" "i'm not the bloody ambulance service!" "so long as he's in your cab just take him there yourself." sounds of struggle. "there, now he's laying on the floor, come and get him!"

now imagine that story written first hand by a real writer.

(and look out for flying colostomy bags)

[Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely light hearted memoir of Suzi's time as an EMD - Emergency Medical Dispatcher. She recalls her first 18 months in a busy Lond0n Ambulance Control Centre, taking truly urgent calls as well as the plague of nuisance calls that they get.
I listened to it in the car and really didn't think I would listen to all 6 CDs on this one subject, but between the delightful English reader and the variety of situations that an EMD is faced with daily. I felt I learned something and it was gratifying to see Suzi get promoted to the next position up of allocator even though she felt so incompetent 18 months earlier when she started.
A nice change from the usual read.

[John Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book based on a blog; if you liked Blood, Sweat & Tea then you'll like this too. I've been reading the blog for the last few years, but it was good to read the posts again, and several of them were new to me. Some of the stories are funny, others are sad, but collectively they give a good insight into how the 999 system works. I'll lend this to my SJA colleagues, and I recommend it to a general audience as well.

[Ade Couper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a change from my usual round....

This is the blog of an Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) in the London Ambulance Service ambulance control room. It starts with the 7/7 bombings, & describes Suzi's life as an EMD- & it's really good...!

Working in psychiatric nursing I find these books interesting- my job's sort-of similar, & I'm interested in how people in allied areas of healthcare deal with the reality (& the sheer lunacy....) of working for the NHS.....

This is a very well-written look at life in ambulance control. You may well laugh & cry reading it: I did.

Well worth a look.

[Laura Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, mainly as I read the Tom Reynolds books - blood, sweat and a cup of tea based on his blog as a paramedic and this was recommended with it. It's quite funny talking about some of the things people ring 999 for, but some parts really make you think about the idiots who abuse the system, first by calling 999, then abusing the dispatcher and the medics when they arrive. Suzi also covers the 7/7 bombings in London which made very interesting reading too.

[Lazy Cornish Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent fly on the wall insight into just what happens when you dial 999.

A thought provoking, heart rendering read which also left me scratching my head in astonishment at the level of abuse this life saving service receives.

Highly recommend. A must read.

[Matthew Bushnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written with great candor, this book is an incredible insight into the life of an Emergency Medical Dispatcher. With great clarity and often humour, Suzi tells it like it is. A great eye opener to a vital, yet behind the scenes role.

[Sarah Goode · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! A couple of anecdotes were a bit too gory for me but it was a good way to learn how Ambulance control works.

[Katy Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, traumatic and an essential guide to the emergency medical services. I think this should be taught in schools.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, fast paced, easy to read, great insight into the inner workings of the ambulance call centers.

[Starlightuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great real life drama book, well worth reading.

[NKy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I couldn't put it down. I even read it while conditioning my hair haha. I finished this 300 pages book in 2 hours! ❤️

[J. Boo]

Suzi Brent used to write the "Neenaw" blog (adventures of an ambulance dispatcher in London), which was a great read.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun story about how medical dispatcher doing their job & crazy people/situation they've encounter.