WELCOME
Welcome to my new website featuring
my new book "Paramedic Chief Extraordinary Experiences from the Streets of Los Angeles"
Here you will find information about me, any press I've been featured in & articles I've written.
Please enjoy and pick up the book at Amazon.
Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
I have been informed that Patrick McCoppin of McMac Publications died on Sunday June 9, 2024. Patrick and his wife, Crystal, have been in the graphic publishing business for more than four decades and are responsible for the publication of “Paramedic Chief - Extraordinary Experiences from the Streets of Los Angeles."
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It is through their combined efforts that this book saw the light of day. Along the way both Patrick and Crystal made many unique suggestions that were incorporated into the final product. They were both passionately invested in the end result.
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During the lengthy project of writing this book I learned that I was their very last client after a long and highly successful career. I consider myself fortunate to have completed this project prior to their retirement.
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In the beginning of this project several years ago I had the privilege of being invited to their Mammoth Lakes home to review all of the manuscripts and materials related to the book. Their generosity could not have been warmer as we made lasting memories and they will sustain me at the loss of Patrick. His dedicated wife, Crystal is truly an angel who took care of Patrick to the very moment of his passing. Even his beloved dog/angel, Teddy, was by his side.
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Requiescat in pace Patrick!
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Now available in the Kindle Store
A Brand New Release by
Chief Alan Cowen
Los Angeles Fire Department (Ret.)
Recent Amazon Review
Harrowing stories from a man who witnessed it all!
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Extremely thorough history of the L. A. Emergency Services told with an intimate and humble first hand account from Paramedic Chief Alan Cowen. From the 1960's to the early 2000's, Chief Cowen has seen everything. He also shares some very personal and absorbing anecdotal stories from the terrifying to the bizarre. Some highlights are getting his perspective of the L.A. riots and the Northridge Earthquake and how both events crippled the city in many ways. If you're interested in this world at all, definitely check it out.
The Story Begins
Now a retired Deputy Fire Chief for the City of Los Angeles and former Paramedic Chief and Commander of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services from 1987 to 1995, Cowen accrued nearly 32 years in the fire service. His career spans the short history of contemporary emergency medicine in Los Angeles. From the birth of the paramedic program in the late 1960’s, creating what would be come modern day emergency medical services (EMS), to the disturbing changes of the EMS Bureau in 1996, Cowen has watched the world change in correlation to the world around him.
From an era when stay-at-home moms brought cookies to the boys at the firehouse, to present-day worries about the necessity for wearing bullet -resistant vests on calls, Cowen has been involved in hundreds of events molding the future of EMS.
Cowen’s willingness to openly discuss his career allows the reader to step into events both chilling and poignant.
From an isolated midnight murder scene, where Cowen admits he felt his knees shaking as he realized the police hadn’t yet arrived, to his vain attempts at comforting an elderly man, who was weeping at the news that his wife had just died, Cowen shares the thoughts of the rescuers in emergency situations.
He also infuses day-to-day events in a paramedic’s life with the details that make his stories unforgettable. Memories that still stick with Cowen sometimes emerging in dreams, like the smell of burning corn in a cornfield where he walked to the site of a ghastly plane crash, create vivid images of the things he’s seen.
His personable storytelling ability lends compelling detail to his behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the nation’s most phenomenal crises, as well as the extraordinary daily events in the life of a paramedic. “After the initial tremors of the Northridge earthquake, I lay in bed and was shaking,” Cowen says. “Alarms of cars and houses were going off as far as I could
hear. I knew I had to respond in. I kissed my wife goodby and said, ‘I’ll be back in three or four days - maybe.’ “
The book traces events from Cowen’s first encounter at age 10 with a multi-casualty emergency on the railroad tracks in Culver City, Calif., where he grew up, to his promotion to Deputy Fire Chief on December 15, 1995.
In retelling his history, Cowen also recounts the history of emergency medicine in Los Angeles and how it evolved. Now, as a retired Deputy Chief, Cowen is perfectly positioned to discuss the inner workings of the department.