Reddit mentions of A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

Not especially. I consider paramedics and EMTs to be absolute front line triage. The first filter, i like to say. (Depending on location) I imagine the type of shit you must see would make most of us blush, ER included. And that's saying something.

Of course when you get to my unit, it's a relatively stable med-transport you're doing to somewhere else. I imagine we are the yawn of your day. But I always want to ask them what kind of mess they run in to.

My only primer was the book A Thousand Naked Strangers which I read before nursing school. Basically the quick career of a Grady EMT turned medic for Atlanta's Level 1 trauma center. That and the spicy memes of /r/ems...

I have no idea the scope of practice or formulary. Educate me. I'd love to shadow one day.

Np fam! I don't know much about Detroit EMS. Never been there, its too damn cold up there for me-I live in the deep south (so I feel you on the being too cold part!). Good on you for driving. Keep doing that, keep your record clean, and get experience being a good driver. Keep being responsible. You Dad's friend sounds like he would be a great place to start as far as getting some info. Give him a call, or go visit him and pick his brain about all of this stuff. He'll know how Detroit EMS works better than me. He can also probably give you good tips on the best schools to get your training and who to call about further information (ask him where he got his certification). Also, he might be a great hook up for helping you get in for a third ride.

You can respond to emergency 911 calls as a Basic or AEMT. Just depending on the nature of the call (and how 911 works in your area), you might not necessarily be in the back with the pt (might have to be the medic back there if you're on an ALS rig). Work your way up. Depending on how things are in Detroit (if EMT-B's are utilized as 911), a lot of people skip AEMT and go straight for paramedic. I always recommend getting experience working for a while after you get your EMT-B/AEMT cert before jumping into medic. Work for a few months, even if it is just volunteering. Get used to being on the truck. It usually makes you a better provider than if you just bulldooze through school and go straight through to medic. Just look up some of the EMS schools in your area- some are separate stand alone academies, others are part of technical/vocational/trade schools or community colleges. Give them a call and have a chat about your questions.

Also, pro-tip: some services will pay for some of your schooling if you agree to work for them for x amount of time afterwards. Some volunteer EMS places will do the same if you agree to volunteer with them x amount of time after you're trained.

There is reciprocity between some states. That's something you'll have to research when you know where you're moving to. There's this thing called the NREMT- National Registry of EMT's. Some states participate with it. Others don't and do their own thing. It's basically how they train you- in NREMT states, you take a National registry test to get your cert. There's a written multiple choice part and an in person practical part. If Michigan is an NREMT state and you move to another NREMT state, reciprocity is usually pretty easy. It gets more complicated otherwise. You can call the state EMS office of the state you plan to move to and ask if they grant reciprocity to people from Michigan and what you would have to do to make it work. Here's a page about which states give reciprocity and what level of certification they'll give reciprocity to: http://www.emt-resources.com/emt-reciprocity.html (it's a little dated as it still refers to EMT-I's and not AEMT's, but it gives you some idea).

Body Armour: Not necessary in my opinion. One of THE biggest things that will be hammered into your head during training is scene safety. The popo is there to have your back. Any situation that could potentially be dangerous (gun shots, stabbings, psychiatric pts, assaults, drug related calls/OD's, that kind of stuff), the cops will go in first while you stage (sit around in the rig a few blocks away and wait for their okay to come in). They'll secure the scene. Ideally, you should not worry about getting shot at or something. That said, I know of at least three people I work with who do wear it. They've been here a while and I work for a very well known, high volume, urban service (I'm sure Detroit is similar). It's a personal decision, but it is entirely unnecessary if you follow your training on scene safety. (Good read for you: "A Thousand Naked Strangers" by Kevin Hazzard- https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Naked-Strangers-Paramedics-Wild-ebook/dp/B00UDCI1T2) This guy worked as a medic for years and years at the place where I work now. Great read about what it's like to be in EMS.

I think the EMT episode, the EMT wrote a book and it was a pretty interesting show. I actually bought the book, haven't read it yet.

Edit: I believe [this] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00UDCI1T2/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1495249958&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=EMT+books&dpPl=1&dpID=51D5ktPvzlL&ref=plSrch) is it.

Apparently this, which I had never heard of before now: https://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Naked-Strangers-Paramedics-Wild-ebook/dp/B00UDCI1T2

There's a book by a paramedic called "1000 naked strangers". The author did an interview on NPR that was pretty interesting.