Flash Point

A Firefighter's Journey Through PTSD

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 20 Jun 2023 | Archive Date 22 Jun 2023

Talking about this book? Use #FlashPoint #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

For twenty-five years, paramedic and firefighter Christy Warren put each tragic, traumatizing call she responded to in a box and closed the lid. One day, however, the box got too full and the lid blew open—and she found herself unable to close it again. Her brain locked her inside a movie theater in which film after film of gut-wrenching scenes from her career played over and over again; she found herself incapable of forgiving herself for what happened at one call in particular. Caught in a loop of shame, anger, irritability, and hypervigilance—classic signs of PTSD—she began to spiral, even to the point of considering suicide, and yet still she was reluctant to seek help.

In the end, it took almost losing her marriage to force Christy into action—but once she began to reach out, she found a whole army of folks waiting and ready to help her. The team of people supporting her eventually grew to include an EMDR therapist, a psychiatrist, her peers at a trauma retreat, and a lawyer who made the case for medical retirement and workers compensation. Along the way, Christy learned the vital truths that made it possible to keep going even in her darkest moments—that post-traumatic stress was literally a brain injury; that suicide and alcohol were not the only ways out; that asking for help was a sign of strength, not weakness; and that although it was ultimately up to her to do the work to change the dialogue in her head, she was not alone.

Trigger warning: there are some scenes in this memoir describing firefighting situations that might be upsetting to some readers. There is also discussion of suicide.

For twenty-five years, paramedic and firefighter Christy Warren put each tragic, traumatizing call she responded to in a box and closed the lid. One day, however, the box got too full and the lid...


A Note From the Publisher

CHRISTY WARREN is a retired fire captain from the Berkeley Fire Department in California. She has twenty-five years of service as a professional paramedic and eighteen years as a professional firefighter/paramedic. After being diagnosed with PTSD in 2014, she retired from the fire service; since then, she has become a triathlete, completed the Escape from Alcatraz swim five times, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Washington State University. She is a volunteer Peer at the West Coast Post-trauma Retreat and hosts the podcast The Firefighter Deconstructed. She lives in Pleasant Hill, CA with her wife, Lisa, and dog, Harriet.

CHRISTY WARREN is a retired fire captain from the Berkeley Fire Department in California. She has twenty-five years of service as a professional paramedic and eighteen years as a professional...


Advance Praise

“...insightful....a vital resource...."

Library Journal

“Despite focusing on harrowing subjects, Warren maintains an approachable style that has an endearing buoyancy . . . The result is a well-balanced, courageously candid memoir that moves toward a note of hope, reassuring others that the grip of PTSD need not last forever. An honest, informative, emotionally stirring memoir.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Warren brings her incredible heart and psychological wisdom to this page-turner of a book….This book is a gift for first responders everywhere, for the communities who support them, and for humanity at large. It is a must-read for anyone striving to become a better person.”

—Maya Shankar, cognitive scientist and host of the podcast A Slight Change of Plans

“…a book for all of us. What author Christy Warren has captured is every human’s struggle to feel safe, secure, attached, and connected. This is a life-saving book with the understanding that we must take care of ourselves along the way. Warren expertly outlines how she worked through many of her struggles and realistically writes to her failures along her journey even while trying to heal. Her journey is many of ours—her recovery can also be ours.”

—Tom Satterly, Retired CSM Delta Force, and author of All Secure: A Special Operations Soldier's Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront

Flash Point is essential reading. We depend on first responders who are willing to race to a crisis and put themselves in the path of danger. It’s time for us to hear the truth about the immense toll this career can take on a mind and body. I commend Warren for her deeply principled authenticity in this beautiful, heartbreaking, honest, laugh-out-loud funny, and ultimately triumphant memoir.”

—Julie Barton, New York Times bestselling author of Dog Medicine, How My Dog Saved Me From Myself

“Warren's powerful memoir of her struggle with PTSD is both heartbreaking and inspiring. It's a must-read for first responders and the clinicians who help them heal.”

—Ellen Kirschman, PhD, public safety psychologist and the author of I Love a Fire Fighter, I Love a Cop, and co-author of Counseling Cops

“A tough and emotional read but a must-read. Christy dives deep into her life's journey of trauma and, more importantly, her healing and ultimate recovery. I cried and I laughed and I can honestly say this book has helped me dig into my never-ending healing process. If you need inspiration, Christy nails it. Thanks for helping me with my journey, Christy.”

—Clint Malarchuk, former NHL goaltender and author of A Matter of Inches

“Christy captures the constant exposure to exigent calls a firefighter faces. Over time it takes a toll on our brains.”

—Sig Wallen, San Francisco Fire Department


“...insightful....a vital resource...."

Library Journal

“Despite focusing on harrowing subjects, Warren maintains an approachable style that has an endearing buoyancy . . . The result is a...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781647424480
PRICE $17.95 (USD)
PAGES 288

Available on NetGalley

NetGalley Shelf App (PDF)
Send to Kindle (PDF)
Download (PDF)

Average rating from 5 members


Featured Reviews

The first thing I ask myself at the end of a memoir is, "did this person tell me everything, or just enough to seem genuine?" In the case of Christy Warren's Flash Point, I have no doubt she left her soul on the page.

A walk through the life of an EMT, turned paramedic, turned firefight, Flash Point is about how negative self-talk and trauma will build up and destroy your life. Warren writes this book with zero sense of self-preservation and it leaves her looking even more heroic. As someone who has PTSD, Warren's journey rings true in more ways than is prudent to detail in a book review. What I can say is that it hit so close to home that there were multiple times I needed to put the book down and get some space. I can't give her higher marks for honesty.

Warren's words are simple, to the point, and makes it feel like you are sitting next to an old friend who decided to unburden themselves after years of hiding. It's an excellent book and a must read.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and She Writes Press. The full review will be posted to HistoryNerdsUnited.com on 6/20/2023.)

Was this review helpful?

This was an engrossing and descriptive memoir of an EMT and firefighter's career and resultant PTSD. It sheds light on commonly experienced psychopathology in this population, which many individuals may not realize. Very well written.

Was this review helpful?

"I was nineteen years old, an emergency medical technician," writes Warren, "working for a private ambulance company. On any given day for the next twenty-five years of my career as a paramedic and a firefighter, whenever I smelled hot asphalt, my skin sensed that woman's hair on my arm and heard her boy's screams" (loc. 60*).

As an EMT, Warren loved her job—but thought she could do more. After training as a paramedic, she still loved her job—and still thought she could do more. And when she shifted to firefighting, Warren excelled, holding her own against the job's exacting standards and against her own even more exacting standards. Lessons learned in childhood proved useful: she could put each trauma she saw and experienced in a box and shut the lid, and she could move on. It worked—until it didn't.

Warren's story is not an easy read. Some of her jobs sound like absolute doozies, and although it's possible that she's pulling punches (and no matter how good or detailed a description, I don't think it's possible for a reader to fully appreciate the impact of seeing and smelling and hearing and touching people burned, people broken), it certainly doesn't feel like it. I've read my fair share of first-responder memoirs, but I can't say that I've ever thought about seeing a woman's burned skin come off on your coat while you carry her to medical help. It's worth going in to the book prepared for grisly scenes, but it's also perhaps worth noting that I don't think it's really possible for the vast majority of first responders experiencing such things to go in prepared—to go in qualified, yes, but all the reading in the world couldn't tell me how I would feel working with trauma every day, or how it would sit in my bones.

I'm reminded, reading Warren's story, of a memoir by a doctor-soldier that I read a few years ago. Of the things he talked about, reluctance to acknowledge and deal with his PTSD stands out in my memory—this conviction that to admit to having PTSD would be to admit to a weakness, even if ignoring trauma meant compounding trauma, not only for himself but for the people around him. Warren's version is much more sympathetic to the people around her, but it is a painful reminder of how we view invisible illness and invisible trauma. If a firefighter thinks she should be ""strong enough"" to refuse painkillers with a smashed-in leg, you can imagine how hard it must be to address the things less talked about. Here's hoping that stories like Warren's can be impetus for change—not only for more accessible, more openly acknowledged treatment for acute PTSD, but for finding ways to address trauma sooner, so that fewer responders are simply stuffing it in boxes until the boxes can hold no more.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

*Quotes are taken from a review copy and may not be final.

Was this review helpful?

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Flash Point is a memoir about a firefighter's journey in their job and with their struggles with PTSD. I think a lot of people often forget or overlook how debilatating PTSD can be for anyone... and most don't realize that firefighters frequently take their job home with them everyday.

The author did a great job telling their story and making it relatable and engaging.
Well worth the read.

Was this review helpful?

Christy Warren's memoir "Flash Point" is a heartfelt exploration of what it means to serve others and the toll it takes on first responders. The book is both humorous and very emotional with Christy's unique voice shining through on every page. I was engrossed in her story from the start and couldn't stop sharing Christy's experiences with my family and friends. Most of us hear that first responders go through trauma. But many of us do not get a glimpse into what that trauma can feel like. Christy's book gives us that glimpse and more. What I found most remarkable is how Christy combines her most recent PTSD symptoms with developments in her childhood and how the sum of her life experiences shaped her attitude at work. And how that attitude provided fertile ground for her symptoms and hindered her recovery. Despite the somber tone of the subject matter, I have found this book to be a beacon of hope - a testimony to how we can overcome the hardest times. More than anything, it is life-affirming. You will probably shed a tear or two along the way but reading Christy's reflections on her life and seeing how far she's come will move you and hopefully help you face your life's challenges head on. Thank you to Christy and her agent for sharing a copy of this book with me.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: