Michael Lauria grew up in Ridgefield, CT and attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. During his time at Dartmouth he was active in a number of student organizations including the Dartmouth Outing Club, the Dartmouth Ski Patrol, and Dartmouth Partners in Community Service. In addition, he accumulated work experience working outside the College as a Firefighter/EMT and Police Special Operations Medic. He Graduated in 2005 with a BA in Physical Biochemistry and Spanish.
He enlisted in the Air Force in July 2005 and completed the rigorous Pararescue (PJ) training pipeline. Following training, he served at the 321st Special Tactics Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, UK, Air Force Special Operations Command as a Pararescueman. During this assignment he deployed to OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM as part of a Combat Search and Rescue Team and in support of the C Company, 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne). In addition to his service awards and ribbons, Michael was named Air Force Special Operations Command Outstanding Airman of the Year and Pararescue Airman of the Year in 2009.
After being honorably discharged from the military in 2011, he accepted a position at Tier 1 Group, LLC in Crawfordsville, AR. While there, he was a lead instructor providing education and training for a variety of military special operations units in weapons, tactics, and operational medicine. He went on to become the Manager of Training and Standards for the medical division of the company, developing curriculum, training instructors, and providing quality assurance.
In October 2012, Michael returned to New Hampshire after taking a position as a Critical Care and Flight Paramedic for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team (DHART) based out of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. During his tenure at DHART he was very involved in the Clinical Guidelines Review Group and Professional Development Committee.
Michael graduated with honors from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in 2018. He went on to complete his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center in 2021. He is currently a Fellow in Emergency Medical Services and Critical Care. Outside of fellowship, he continues to fly as a flight physician for Lifeguard, actively teaches prehospital providers, is a regular contributor to the EMCrit Podcast and Blog, and is acting Chief Medical Director for FlightBridgeED.