Doctor Danger!

Back in June, Firehouse.com wrote a lengthy profile of Parkland Memorial Hospital’s Alex Eastman — “the first physician who’s every day job is to be on a major metropolitan SWAT team,” as the good doctor explained at the time. More than a year earlier, Eastman was among the doctors who saved the lives of four Dallas SWAT officers shot in a drug raid; a couple of months ago, Eastman was among those who saved another officer shot while helping federal agents serve an arrest warrant. Chief David Kunkle presented Eastman and fellow SWAT doc Jeffery Metzger with a Citizen Certificate of Merit for their effort last month.

Well, ABC News has picked up on Eastman’s story: Last night, World News ran a piece on Eastman and other docs joining SWAT teams, which is “a growing trend,” says reporter Laura Marquez. And it’s a damned risky gig, says the doc: “I just try not to talk about that with my mom and we just go from there.” In related news, Eastman’s among three docs credited with a forthcoming book, sure to be a must-read amongst big-city docs: The Parkland Trauma Handbook, 3rd Edition. It’s not out till May 2008, but order yours today. –Robert Wilonsky