
A Thousand Naked Strangers
A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back
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Narrated by:
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George Newbern
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By:
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Kevin Hazzard
About this listen
A former paramedic's visceral, poignant, and mordantly funny account of a decade spent on Atlanta's mean streets saving lives and connecting with the drama and occasional beauty that lies inside catastrophe.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Kevin Hazzard felt that something was missing from his life - his days were too safe, too routine. A failed salesman turned local reporter, he wanted to test himself, see how he might respond to pressure and danger. He signed up for emergency medical training and became, at age 26, a newly minted EMT running calls in the worst sections of Atlanta. His life entered a different realm - one of blood, violence, and amazing grace.
Thoroughly intimidated at first and frequently terrified, he experienced on a nightly basis the adrenaline rush of walking into chaos. But in his downtime, Kevin reflected on how people's facades drop away when catastrophe strikes. As his hours on the job piled up, he realized he was beginning to see into the truth of things. There is no pretense five beats into a chest compression or in an alley next to a crack den or on a dimly lit highway where cars have collided. Eventually, what had at first seemed impossible happened: Kevin acquired mastery. And in the process he was able to discern the professional differences between his freewheeling peers, what marked each - as he termed them - as a "tourist", "true believer", or "killer".
Combining indelible scenes that remind us of life's fragile beauty with laugh-out-loud moments that keep us smiling through the worst, A Thousand Naked Strangers is an absorbing listen about one man's journey of self-discovery - a trip that also teaches us about ourselves.
©2016 Kevin Hazzard. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Story
He helped save people every day - but he had no idea how to save himself. Jason Sautel had it all. Confident in his abilities and trusted by his fellow firefighters, he was making a name for himself on the streets of Oakland, California. His adrenaline-fueled job even helped him forget the pain of his childhood - until the day he looked into the eyes of a jumper on the Bay Bridge and came face-to-face with a darkness he knew would take him down as well.
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Real..... and good!
- By Anonymous User on 03-07-21
By: Jason Sautel, and others
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Lights and Sirens
- The Education of a Paramedic
- By: Kevin Grange
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Nine months of tying tourniquets and pushing new medications, of IVs, chest compressions, and defibrillator shocks - that was Kevin Grange's initiation into emergency medicine when, at age 36, he enrolled in the "Harvard of paramedic schools": UCLA's Daniel Freeman paramedic program, long considered one of the best and most intense paramedic training programs in the world.
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if your looking into EMS as a career DO READ!!!i
- By Jess-eoohh on 07-15-16
By: Kevin Grange
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Blood, Sweat, Tears and Prayers
- Firefighting and EMS from Some of the Toughest Streets in America
- By: Gary Ludwig
- Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Gary Ludwig has been a firefighter/paramedic for 37 years and has worked in two of the most violent cities in the United States (St. Louis and Memphis) for 34 years of those years. He gathers his experiences in this field and presents an honest overview of his experiences with the emotions, feelings, sights, and gut-wrenching efforts men and women in this field experience to save a life or property. This is the insider look at a profession few of us fully appreciate: This book gains the profession the respect that is due.
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A MUST for anyone in emergency services!!!!
- By Trent Longtin on 12-20-18
By: Gary Ludwig
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Hard Roll
- A Paramedic’s Perspective of Life and Death in New Orleans
- By: Jon McCarthy
- Narrated by: Arthur Flavell
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Known as one of America's most dangerous cities, New Orleans plays host to incidents ranging from the tragic and disturbing to the completely bizarre - and during his career as an emergency medic, Jon McCarthy saw it all. He chronicles some of the most formative calls of his career in this autobiography that sounds like crime fiction. McCarthy demonstrates with detail and clarity that the difficult choice is often the right choice. While not for the faint of heart, each entry in this collection provides poignant insight into the bonds between medics and the people and city they serve.
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The nightmares we all take for granted, these guys are elbow deep in daily. Experience it here:
- By Sandy on 02-12-24
By: Jon McCarthy
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Confessions of a Trauma Junkie
- My Life as a Nurse Paramedic, 2nd Edition
- By: Sherry Lynn Jones
- Narrated by: Kristine M Bowen
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Share the innermost feelings of emergency services workers as they encounter trauma, tragedy, redemption, and even a little humor. This audiobook details a progression from innocence to enlightened caregiver to burnout, glimpsing into each stage personally and professionally.
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Confessions of a trauma junkie
- By Deborah on 07-17-18
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Ordinary Heroes
- A Memoir of 9/11
- By: Joseph Pfeifer
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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When Chief Joe Pfeifer led his firefighters to investigate an odor of gas in downtown Manhattan on the morning of 9/11, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. A few moments later, he watched as the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Pfeifer, the closest FDNY chief to the scene, spearheaded rescue efforts on one of the darkest days in American history.
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An amazing account
- By Anonymous User on 09-09-21
By: Joseph Pfeifer
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The Emergency
- A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER
- By: Thomas Fisher
- Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Thomas Fisher
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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As an emergency room doctor working on the rapid evaluation unit, Dr. Thomas Fisher has about three minutes to spend with the patients who come into the South Side of Chicago ward where he works before directing them to the next stage of their care. Bleeding: three minutes. Untreated wound that becomes life-threatening: three minutes. Kidney failure: three minutes. He examines his patients inside and out, touches their bodies, comforts and consoles them, and holds their hands on what is often the worst day of their lives.
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Meh
- By chel_c42 on 03-29-22
By: Thomas Fisher
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The Modern Fire Officer
- Communicate, Motivate, & Lead
- By: Jared Vermeulen
- Narrated by: Justin Koehn
- Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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The world has changed, the fire department has changed, and the firefighters you serve with have changed. Fire organizations offer more services to the public via a more diverse group of firefighters than ever before. Those that rely on you to serve and lead them deserve a fire officer who can effectively evolve to meet their specific and unique needs while keeping what has historically made the fire service great.
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Great information
- By Michael McFadden on 01-22-25
By: Jared Vermeulen
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Wild Rescues
- A Paramedic's Extreme Adventures in Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton
- By: Kevin Grange
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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A paramedic story that takes places in the wild and sheds a never-seen-before light on wilderness medicine, our national parks, and conflicts that arise between tourism and protecting the land. Wild Rescues is a fast-paced, firsthand glimpse into the exciting lives of paramedics who work with the National Park Service: a unique brand of park rangers who respond to medical and traumatic emergencies in some of the most isolated and rugged parts of America.
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Mostly good
- By Rodney on 06-28-21
By: Kevin Grange
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American Heroes
- By: James Patterson, Matt Eversmann, Tim Malloy
- Narrated by: Joe Mantegna
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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U.S. soldiers who served in overseas conflicts—from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan—share true stories of the actions that earned them some of America’s most distinguished military medals, up to and including the Medal of Honor. They never acted alone, but always in the spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and for the good of our beloved country. There has never been a better time for all of us to think about duty, sacrifice, and what it means to be an American hero.
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EXCELLENT
- By Wilson Che' Gray on 10-25-24
By: James Patterson, and others
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Black Flies
- By: Shannon Burke
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Black Flies is the story of paramedic Ollie Cross and his first year on the job in mid-'90s New York. It is a ground's-eye view of life on the streets: the shoot-outs, the bad cops, the unhinged medics, the hopeless patients, the dark humor in bizarre circumstances, and one medic's struggle to balance his desire to help against his own growing callousness. This story features lives that hang in the balance, including a single job with a misdiagnosed newborn that sends Cross and his partner into a life-changing struggle between good and evil.
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The dark side of EMS
- By R. S. Broberg on 06-21-24
By: Shannon Burke
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All Bleeding Stops
- Life and Death in the Trauma Unit
- By: Stephen M. Cohn
- Narrated by: Paul Heitsch
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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All Bleeding Stops gives listeners an intimate look at what goes on inside a trauma center, highlighting injuries sustained in car crashes, shootings, and stabbings—basically anything bleeding, obstructed, or perforated. Having lived and breathed trauma for four decades, Dr. Cohn is an ideal guide to demystify the role of the trauma surgeon and their place in a hospital. The behind-the-scenes look he provides is infused with sobering tales from his career as a military surgeon and in trauma centers across the country as well as his descriptions of high-profile medical stories.
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Deceiving title and summary
- By William Burke on 03-24-24
By: Stephen M. Cohn
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People of the ER
- By: Philip Allen Green MD
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Standing in the trauma room of an emergency department is like standing at ground zero of a nuclear reaction, only it's not radiation that is released - but stories. Stories that are told and retold, sometimes just until the end of the shift, but sometimes for decades.
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Good..... but......
- By Fact addict on 04-11-19
fun and honest
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I was fascinated by the story of why the author became a paramedic, what it was like to do that job, why he continued to do it and why he stopped. This is insight that isn't explained in the many television shows about first responders.
Be aware that descriptions and language are graphic. If you have low or zero tolerance for such things then you'd be well advised to skip this book. That said, the descriptions and language are matter of fact, and in my opinion, not included for shock value.
Narrator George Newbern was excellent. His performance added to the story.
Riveting
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The real story - From start to end!
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Enjoyable and insightful
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P.S. I also love this performer. I loved his reading of Cider House Rules. Now that I think of it, I didn't look that up, so I can't say for sure it's the same guy. But, it's great..
Kindred
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If you could sum up A Thousand Naked Strangers in three words, what would they be?
Fired Journalist EMTWas there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The story about the changing of the Grady uniform near the end was very emblematic.Any additional comments?
A good look at Atlanta at the turn of the 21st century.Atlanta Native Loved This
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This was an amazing book to read.
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Great Book
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Great read and narration!!
The calm in the chaos!
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Best Book I've Heard of it's Kind
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