00:00Have you ever had something happen in your life and wish you can write a book about it?
00:03Well, for Tim Parsons, that's exactly what happened.
00:06Not once, not twice, not even three times, but on five separate occasions.
00:11And though the books are fictional, each one is influenced by his experiences
00:15while being on call with C-CAM or while working privately.
00:19And here, at Fort Amherst, Tim is launching his latest book.
00:23Paramedic Chris, Beyond the Call, tells the lucky tale of one man
00:27in need of serious medical assistance, while in the presence of not one,
00:31but two paramedics and an ambulance car.
00:34The children's book was officially launched in the cafe of Fort Amherst
00:38and written by Tim, who used to work for C-CAM.
00:41Well, they're saying they're very educational and they're also helping children know
00:46what happens when the community comes together and how to support one another.
00:50So, in my opinion, we see so many things that are negative at the moment.
00:55So, we can reverse that from a young age.
00:58And that's one of the purposes behind the books, is to reverse that thinking.
01:03And for Simon, the other paramedic on scene,
01:06this book is a positive representation that ambulances need.
01:09So, there's lots of different books and children's programmes for emergency services,
01:16you know, like the fire brigade, for example.
01:18So, I just think it's nice that there's one now out there for the ambulance service
01:26and paramedics and that side of thing,
01:28because it's good for children not to be afraid of the emergency services,
01:33especially ambulance services, because they may end up being treated at some point.
01:37But we're there to help them and to make them better again.
01:40And actually, we're not that frightening and that we're all very friendly and nice to work with.
01:44As the story is based here at Fort Amherst,
01:47it only makes sense that the illustrations of the book are heavily influenced by the place too.
01:51So, I've decided to take a walk around and see if I can spot the significant spots of the story.
01:55I've already come across the cafe, which is where help was called for,
01:59and I've now found the place where the chairman had the stroke, the main part of the story.
02:04I came out here. I was leaning on the wall here.
02:07And all of a sudden, I just came over very dizzy, very dizzy,
02:12lost all realisation of what was going on and collapsed.
02:17But luckily, as she shouted out, there were paramedics downstairs having coffees and, you know,
02:23killing some time.
02:24And they all came rushing up.
02:26So, I had a group of paramedics all around me helping me out.
02:30This book is the latest addition to the Paramedic Chris series,
02:33and the message to children in each of them is the same.
02:36Emergency services are here to help.
02:39Nayla Mohamed for KMTV in Chatham.
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