Treat Them Where They Lie

When Ron Stewart—a coal miner’s son from the east coast of Canada—took a residency in emergency medicine in Los Angeles in 1972, emergency care was still in its infancy. First responders—often dispatched from fire departments or funeral homes, with hearses serving as ambulances—could put on bandages and perform CPR, but that was about it.

Stewart took on a dual role as emergency physician and advisor (earning the nickname “Doc Hollywood”) on the popular TV series Emergency!—where the fictional accident victims had a better chance of surviving than his real-life patients. Stewart’s life’s work was closing that gap, a mission he advanced by training the first generation of paramedics in LA.

After sixteen years of high-stakes trailblazing in the US emergency medical system, Stewart took on the Minister of Health job in his native Nova Scotia, where he battled long odds and fierce opposition to introduce a modern Emergency Health Services system.

In Treat Them Where They Lie, Ron Stewart and co-author Jim Meek tell a captivating story of passion and determination while exploring the highs and lows of a life well lived. With fifteen colour images, and forewords from prominent US physician and author Dr. Brian Zink and Canada’s foremost medical journalist, Dr. Brian Goldman, this riveting memoir offers readers an unvarnished look at a man who played a key role in the development of modern emergency medicine.