Emergency reading

BY JACEY CONWAY

WRITING FROM EXPERIENCE

MEET BLAIR LINDSAY AND LISTEN TO HIM READ AN EXCERPT FROM THE BEAST IN THE BONE

Airdrie resident Blair Lindsay is a former paramedic, volunteer firefighter, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) instructor and self-published author.

Lindsay’s interest in paramedicine and firefighting date back to his childhood when he would watch the popular TV show Emergency which featured the daily lives of paramedics and firefighters based in Los Angeles, California.

“I was seriously hooked and never wanted to be anything else,” says Lindsay.

Moving to Airdrie in the ’80s allowed him to carry out that dream when he joined the Airdrie fire department as a volunteer firefighter.

“I loved it and practically lived at the fire department,” says Lindsay.

He attended SAIT to gain his credentials as a paramedic and began working full time as a firefighter and paramedic at the Airdrie fire department in 1986.

“There was a wonderful group of professionals running the department who were really invested in the community,” says Lindsay.

“They taught me a lot about community service and professionalism.”

In 1999, Lindsay became an instructor at SAIT after being recruited by a colleague who also began teaching.

After realizing how much he loved teaching, 20 years quickly passed by and Lindsay continued as an educator in the Paramedic and Respiratory Therapy programs and the Centre for Patient Simulation.

As an instructor, Lindsay has seen the positive impact he has had on his students and fondly recalls one time when he was able to talk a student out of quitting the program.

“The student went on to finish and has been a paramedic for nearly 20 years,” says Lindsay.

The help Lindsay has lent to his students over the years is not a responsibility he takes lightly and he looks on with great pride to all the great paramedics that have come from the program he helps instruct.

“If you can help a student over one tiny hurdle that seems insurmountable at the time, they can go on to flourish and be successful,” he says.

Through his career, Lindsay has gained the life experience to write thrilling novels that reflect the daily struggles that come with working as a first responder.

His most recent novel, The Beast in the Bone, showcases a female paramedic based in rural Alberta, struggling with her inner demons all the while battling dangerous killers.

Lindsay’s experience as a paramedic has shaped him as an author and has allowed him to bring real and raw life scenarios into his writing.

He has been able to portray the physical and emotional trauma that comes with being a first responder through fictional and exhilarating situations.

His writing platform has also allowed him to speak to the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that many first responders inevitably experience sooner or later to some degree.

“Those experiences have allowed me to write realistically about emotional and physical pain, and however people respond to it,” says Lindsay.

He is part of a writing group at SAIT that allows him to gain feedback and improve his skills so he can continue producing great books.

Lindsay is currently working on a sequel to his novel, as well as two other books touching horror and science fiction.

“We will see what I finish first.” life