MPR News with Angela Davis

'Trauma Sponges': A Minneapolis firefighter responds to suffering

A man poses next to separate photo of book cover
Minneapolis fire captain Jeremy Norton's memoir "Trauma Sponges" describes his more than 20 years working in emergency response.
Courtesy photos

When people think of firefighters, they might picture an image from a child’s book — a big man, wearing lots of equipment, maybe pulling a hose from a red fire engine or rushing to rescue people from a burning building.  

But firefighters are responding to far fewer fires these days and more and more medical emergencies. Many 911 calls for chest pains, falls and drug overdoses are routed to the local fire department.

In his memoir, “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response,” Minneapolis Fire Captain Jeremy Norton describes emergency medical response as being the heart of the job.

Norton writes about the harrowing and heartbreaking scenes he witnessed over 22 years serving the city, and what he’s learned about the broken systems and racial injustice that leave many with nowhere else to turn for help.

Listen back to a conversation MPR News host Angela Davis had last October with Norton about responding to the sick and hurting, including a call to the scene of George Floyd’s murder.

firefighter talks to MPR host
MPR News host Angela Davis (left) talked with Minneapolis fire captain Jeremy Norton at MPR News in St. Paul on Oct. 24 shortly after the publication of "Trauma Sponges."
Matt Alvarez | MPR News 2023


Guest:  

  • Jeremy Norton is a captain with the Minneapolis Fire Department and author of “Trauma Sponges: Dispatches from the Scarred Heart of Emergency Response.” A native of Washington, DC, he has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Tufts University and a master’s degree in creative writing from Boston University. He taught high school English in Chattanooga, Tenn., before moving to Minneapolis and joining the fire department in 2000.

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Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.