99% Invisible

Freedom House Ambulance Service

Jul 8, 2020

Join John Moon, a pioneering paramedic from Pittsburgh's Presbyterian University Hospital, and reporter Kevin Hazard as they explore the groundbreaking Freedom House Ambulance Service. They discuss how this service revolutionized emergency medical care in the 1970s, spotlighting the vital role of Black paramedics in reshaping public safety. Hear about the socio-economic challenges they faced, the innovations they implemented, and the ongoing legacy that continues to influence modern emergency services today.

44:11

Creator website

Episode guests

Kevin Hazzard

John Moon

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

A Quest for Purpose Beyond Labels

2min

Emergence of Pioneers in Paramedicine

16min

Legacy of Freedom House Ambulance Service

12min

Rethinking Public Safety: Lessons from Paramedicine's Evolution

3min

From Journalism to EMS: A Transformative Journey

10min

The Future of Emergency Response: Mental Health and Beyond

4min

One night halfway through a graveyard shift at the hospital, orderly John Moon watched as two young men burst through the doors. They were working desperately to save a dying patient. Maybe today he wouldn’t bat an eye at this scene, but in 1970 nothing about it made sense. The two men weren’t doctors, and they weren’t nurses. And their strange uniforms weren’t hospital issued. Moon was witnessing the birth of a new profession—one that would go on to change the face of emergency medicine. The two men were some of the worlds first paramedics, and, like Moon, they were Black. This is the story of Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh. They were the first paramedics and they changed the way we think about emergency medicine.

Freedom House Ambulance Service

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