American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics

by Kevin Hazzard

The extraordinary story of an unjustly forgotten group of Black men in Pittsburgh who became the first paramedics in America, saving lives and changing the course of emergency medicine around the world
 
Until the 1970s, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. A 9-1-1 call might bring police or even the local funeral home. But that all changed with Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America’s first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world, only to have their story and their legacy erased—until now.

In American Sirens, acclaimed journalist and paramedic Kevin Hazzard tells the dramatic story of how a group of young, undereducated Black men forged a new frontier of healthcare. He follows a rich cast of characters that includes John Moon, an orphan who found his calling as a paramedic; Peter Safar, the Nobel Prize-nominated physician who invented CPR and realized his vision for a trained ambulance service; and Nancy Caroline, the idealistic young doctor who turned a scrappy team into an international leader. At every turn, Freedom House battled racism—from the community, the police, and the government. Their job was grueling, the rules made up as they went along, their mandate nearly impossible—and yet despite the long odds and fierce opposition, they succeeded spectacularly. Never-before revealed in full, this is a rich and troubling hidden history of the Black origins of America’s paramedics, a special band of dedicated essential workers, who stand ready to serve day and night on the line between life and death for every one of us. 

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Medical, Medicine, Audiobook, Race, Book Club

336 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2022

About the author

Kevin Hazzard worked as a paramedic from 2004 to 2013, primarily at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. His freelance journalism has appeared in Atlanta Magazine, Marietta Daily Journal, Creative Loafing, and Paste. He is the author of a novel, Sleeping Dogs, and A Thousand Naked Strangers. He and his family live in Hermosa Beach, California.

~http://authors.simonandschuster.com/K...

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely inspired. I can't believe that I, as a Pittsburgh resident of over a decade, had never heard of this story before picking up this book.

This was one of my favorite nonfiction books of 2024!
Click here to hear more of my thoughts over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me 'Look for the helpers. You will ALWAYS find people who are helping.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words and I am comforted by realizing there are still so many helpers, so many caring people in this world." -- children's TV show host (and Pittsburgh area native) Fred Rogers

I much enjoyed reading author Hazzard's memoir A Thousand Naked Strangers - focusing on his ten years as a paramedic in suburban Atlanta, Georgia - and now he has graced us with another book, this time a historical work focusing on the little-known and/or -recognized pioneers for America's emergency medical services in American Sirens. One of the book's final sentences provides a perfect thumbnail sketch of sorts, to wit: "In Pittsburgh [Pennsylvania] in 1966, twenty-four black men from the Hill [neighborhood] answered a call for help and in the process changed the world. They were sons and fathers, bookbinders, mechanics, orderlies. They were paramedics, and they came from Freedom House . . . They did something truly remarkable." Yes, and Hazzard tells their important and enlightening story.

It was only in 1966 that the U.S. federal government began to seriously look at the sad state of pre-hospital care nationwide. Ambulance service was a 'scoop and run,' hit-or-miss affair, often provided by a town's funeral home (because their Cadillac or similar model hearses could fit a stretcher) if at all. With an ever-growing number of fatal heart attacks and traffic accidents across the country a few smaller metropolises (Miami and Jacksonville in Florida, as well as Columbus, Ohio) began pilot programs training civilians the way the U.S. military would instruct their medics for the battlefield. But the early innovation in this then-nascent area was the Freedom House project in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1967. Recruiting young black men (like the odd couple but effective duo of serious-minded John Moon and carefree George McCary) directly from their neighborhoods, and trained by respected E/R physician and intubation trailblazer Peter Safar, these 'paramedics' - a strange new word at the time - hit the streets in 'mobile intensive care units' (as actual equipped ambulances were then called by Dr. Safar) to start saving some lives and making a difference in the community.

Unfortunately, said program only had seven years of life before it was done in by local government (idiot politicians are pretty much the villains of this narrative) and was awkwardly folded into a new city-run EMS service. However, this subject matter - and some of the personnel involved, like the aforementioned paramedic Moon and Dr. Safar, as well as the feisty Dr. Nancy Caroline, a Jewish woman from Boston who eventually supervised the program and loved to often 'ride shotgun' on the speeding ambulances with the young men - still made for an involving and interesting book. I love reading about recent and/or little-known American history, and as a child I adored those fictional rescue shows that would periodically pop up on network television (Emergency! of course, but does anyone remember 240-Robert?), and Hazzard's work is a wonderful collision of both things.

[Michelle Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story! Everyone should read this.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I read this book, this is a story that needs to be told and heard! I’ve picked up multiple books in the last two months covering the time period off the civil rights movement and have learned SO much. This book covered the history of the first paramedic ambulance service in the US- and initially, all of the members were African American. I really appreciated all of the background on what life what like for African Americans growing up in the US at this time, especially in major cities and slums. It covered the sobering topic of urban renewal, when white city leaders would claim they intended to knock down the slums to build better affordable housing and create jobs- but instead they destroyed all of the housing and put up stadiums and shopping malls and never created additional housing, forcing already poor families to be packed into tighter areas.

I also was pretty stunned to learn how recently ambulances had skilled medical professionals on board. Freedom House was the first ambulance service in the US in 1967 to have staff trained beyond just simple first aid. Until that point, if you called for an ambulance you would get police officers or staff from the MORGUE who would stuff you in the back of the ambulance as fast as possible and then leave you unattended in the back until they dumped you at the local hospital. Needless to say, there were significant numbers of preventable deaths or injuries that occurred prior to establishing paramedics in ambulances. I was even more surprised to see how resistant the government was to making this change despite ample evidence that paramedics were needed.

The most shocking part of this story to me as a medical professional was the discussion of how rescue breathing and CPR was proven to be an evidence-based technique. Prior to the establishment of CPR as a standard for cardiac or respiratory arrest, the two techniques for ventilating a patient not breathing were to lay them on their back and raise their arms over their head and then press on their chest, or to lay them face down with their head turned to the side. Yup, that’s it. Peter Safar is one of the “fathers” of modern CPR and was also the man who established the first paramedic program, Freedom House. To prove that rescue breathing worked, he found a bunch of volunteers who agreed to be sedated and paralyzed and rescue breaths were given to them by a group of boy scouts who had been taught the method right before the experiment. Wild!!!

This was an excellent read and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in prehospital or emergency medicine!

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know if I can wax rhapsodic enough to do this book justice, but I'm going to try.

Firstly, this was a Buddy Read and my fellow Buddy Reader read this in less than a week. It took me seven months. I had to keep putting it down because it was SO well written, I was too emotionally tied up with what the people in the book were going through. (Sorry Buddy, but I DID finish it at least?)

This is a true story and it is written INCREDIBLY well. The reader is 100% immersed in the lives being described.

And what they went through was UGLY. Racism, systematic and brutal. To the literal detriment of the lives of everyone who needed emergency medical services in Pittsburgh PA during the 1960-70s. The mayor from that time period has a special circle in hell waiting for him, I have very little doubt.

And before Freedom House was started, what passed for "emergency medical services" was so horrible, I felt physically ill and 100% thankful that Freedom House came and that Safar, Nancy and the rest created the foundation and backbone of what is used today. The men and women of Freedom House have literally saved so many lives as to be uncountable with what they did.

This book made me so angry and sad and thankful; I was riding the Feels Rollercoaster every time I picked it up. It is in my humble opinion that this book should be on the reading list of every adult, to understand where our modern EMS has come from and to honor the men and women who made it possible.

I know a paramedic through work and he is very proud of what he does. After reading this book, I don't blame him. Every paramedic deserves a medal for what they do, every day. At the very least, they deserve thanks.

So thank you Kevin Hazzard for making the story of Freedom House more accessible to the public and for being a paramedic yourself.

Thank you to every single paramedic out there, for doing what you do, day in, day out, to save the lives that wouldn't be saved without you.

5, the people of Freedom House were so amazing you need to read about them, stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

American Sirens is a compelling piece of non-fiction about a widely unknown history of the paramedic program in the USA. Who would believe it all began with the first ever emergency medical service anywhere in Pittsburgh, PA in 1967. Apparently, prior to this new service, one’s chances of surviving a medical heath emergency were slim to none. The police would take the call, throw the victim/patient into the back of the paddy wagon and head for the hospital. No first aid of any kind.

It was a common and usual practice for the police to refuse service to residents of the Hill District, a predominantly black impoverished neighborhood in Pittsburgh. Dr. Peter Safar was instrumental in the development of a 32 week paramedic training course, and Freedom House Ambulance Service was the first organization ever. It was a black owned business and all the paramedics were black. They provided service to the Hill District. Just as they were getting established, Martin Luther King was assassinated. Freedom House paramedics were pressed into service to help people injured during the riots that occurred at the time.

There’s so much more to this story than my brief description. Politics was very much involved and Freedom House Medical Services only lasted 8 years. It’s an unbelievable story. Especially for someone who was a teenager living in Western Pennsylvania at the time. One more piece of American history. I’m glad this story has finally been written.

[Amanda Hupe · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The names and faces, the voices of those who decades ago took a leap of faith and started a revolution that saved countless lives across the world: nobody knew them. No one heard them. Like the uprising in 1968, they were bottled up and held at bay, their voices silenced.”

AMERICAN SIRENS
Thank you, Kevin Hazzard and Hachette Books for the opportunity to read this book. It can be added to your shelf on September 20th, 2022.

American Sirens by Kevin Hazzard is a nonfiction account that reads like a novel. It is about the true story of the Black Men who became America’s First Paramedics. The book begins with a brief explanation of the history of pre-hospital medical care. In America, during the 1960s and before, if there was an emergency there was a good chance that the victim would not make it to the hospital. There were ambulances mostly manned by reluctant police and fireman just picking up a few hours. There was no mandatory training. The person who would change all that is Peter Safar, the man credited with pioneering CPR. He would set the standards of pre-hospital care. However, it is the men who were the first paramedics that would make the difference.

Freedom House was founded in 1967. Phil Hallan, the co-founder, wanted to create opportunities for Black men in Pittsburg. Twenty-five Black men were recruited from The Hill District. They went through rigorous medical training and would care for the local neighborhoods saving countless lives while facing pushback from politicians and racism.

This book is a quick read. It is filled with important stories, yet short chapters. I found that I could have kept on reading. It was incredible reading about Peter Safar, Phil Hallan, and Nancy Caroline, but the part I looked forward to the most was how these men revolutionized ambulance care. I do wish there were more stories involving these men, whose names we do not know. This book would make an incredible documentary and I would love to learn more about these incredible men and women. Or better yet, a fictional series making their names known. Here are their names:


Michael Blackman
Harold Brown
Mitchell Brown
Walter Brown
David Clemens
Arthur Davis
Ray Davis
Clyde Dunson
John Franklin
Harvey Gandy
Tom Grace
Harold Holland
Addie Johnson
Eugene Key
James Kyte
George McCary
Thomas Mitchell
John Moon
Daniel Nickens
William Porter
Raymond Pridgen
Ron Ragin
David Rayzer
Curtis Scott
Ernest Simpson
Carl Staten
Wallace Sullivan
David Thomas
Thomas Wade
Kenneth Williams

[Shadira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not so long ago, emergency medical services didn’t exist in the United States. But a group of brave Black men in Pittsburgh and a pioneering White physician changed that.

“American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics” tells their story. Journalist and former paramedic Kevin Hazzard paints a vivid picture of the nation’s first EMS service, the Freedom House Ambulance Service of Pittsburgh. Segregated by redlining, railroads and “urban renewal” projects, the city contracted with the police for its primitive ambulance service.


It’s also a narrative bristling with the indignities of racism and medical ignorance
American Sirens” isn’t a book you’re likely to forget.

[Samiha Reza · Rating 5 out of 5]

"In Pittsburgh, in 1966, twenty-four Black men from the Hill answered a call for help and in the process changed the world."

American Sirens is non-fiction that reads like a novel due to Hazzard's prose and the care he put into bringing these real-life heroes to life on paper. It's about the Freedom House Ambulance Service, the first of its kind and the hallmark of EMS to this day, but unfairly, cruelly, the majority don't even know of its existence.

I didn't expect this book to impact me the way it did. I received an advance reading copy from Hachette Books and was interested due to my own experiences working as an EMT. I expected an educational objective work on a piece of EMS history; maybe a little dry, but worth gritting my teeth through to learn about something I wouldn't learn elsewhere. Instead, I cried and laughed and didn't want to put the book down. I felt outraged at the abuses these men experienced, felt pride for their accomplishments, for becoming the blueprint for the generations to come. I found myself grateful for their perseverance so that I can feel that same awe and pride treating a patient in an ambulance today, as a brown woman, over 50 years later. This is a book that I want in the hands of every EMT, paramedic, or medical student hoping to be an emergency medicine resident someday sitting in a classroom. It feels that foundational. Every student should know to whom they owe the privilege of saving a life on the street today. Because it is a privilege and honor, to walk into someone's home and see them at their lowest and then be entrusted with something as precious as their lives. The Freedom House paramedics knew that because they had to fight for it every inch of the way.

I enjoyed how this book's focus was on the people who made EMS happen, and less so on the nitty-gritty medical details. Hazzard includes the important ones to show the realities of street medicine, but for a book about such a vital, unfairly forgotten piece of history, I'm glad that it didn't devolve into the trauma/gore fetishization seen in much of medical non-fiction (and fiction) these days. Instead, Hazzard emphasizes the very human reasons why individuals like Safar, Caroline, and Moon worked so hard to see Freedom House succeed and the illogical and racist policies that hindered it, ultimately leading to the unjust erasure of these brilliant paramedics. From my time with people in the medical field, it seems like sometimes medical professionals forget that medicine should be just as much about the dignity and humanity of the patients they serve as it is about the anatomy and physiology of the body. Freedom House was the original depiction of what could and should be community health care, in a world where those who needed care most were ignored or misused by authority.

Today's America shows how essential learning about Freedom House is, from the constant waves of police brutality seen on the news to the current toxic environment of the public safety triad with fire, police, and EMS, or the "white frat" culture that permeates the field. Recognizing the history that has led us to today is critical in ensuring that representation in medicine continues to grow and having the Freedom House paramedics and their work at the forefront of our minds ensures we have the right heroes to thank for it. American Sirens in my opinion is a must-read and one that I won't forget.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Pittsburgh, in 1966, twenty-four Black men from the Hill answered a call for help and in the process changed the world. They were sons and fathers, bookbinders, mechanics, orderlies. They were paramedics, and they came from Freedom House. Freedom House. Now I know you remember that. They did something truly remarkable, for that or any other time, and their story goes something like this.…

A part of history that should not have been discarded so easily. A good book. A slow start but a very good book

[Porter Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a fun book--- and sad.

Basically Peter Safar, the father of CPR, believes that too many people are dying on the way to the hospital. Prior to 1967, an ambulance driver was just that, a person who drove the ambulance. They would arrive at the scene pick up the body and take them to the hospital.

No triage

No stabilization

Nothing

Many of the first responders were police officers or mortuaries (using their hearse) to carry people.

Safar wanted to bring medical care to the front line. But nobody else really wanted to.

In 1967, he decided to start the Freedom House Ambulance Service. But he need EMT/Paramedics, but nobody was interested in undergoing 8 months of unpaid training for the hope of a job. The only people whom he was able to recruit were those who had no real future anyways---people who couldn't get a job---in other words, African Americans.

The Freedom House ambulance service was composed of only black Americans.

They were facing an uphill battle. Police departments didn't want to lose their role as ambulance service---it ensured more jobs. The hiring of a paramedics would result in defunding of the police.

Still, the Freedom House proved themselves viable.

They ultimately proved themselves to be the standard upon which other EMT/Paramedic services would be measured. The techniques and standards developed in the 1960s and early 70s would become the norm for all paramedics to this day!

Ultimately the Freedom House would be causualty of it's own success---and racial bias.

The story is excellently told and tragic.

[Elizabeth☮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard about Freedom House and John Moon on the 99% Invisible podcast (if you haven't listened to it, check it out). This is all about the first real ambulance service set up in Philly during the late sixties and into the seventies. Freedom House started out servicing The Hill (a predominantly African American enclave).

The EMTs fought hard to get funding from the city, but the then mayor said the city didn't neeed ambulance service. It was handled just fine by the police officers. Yes, ambulance service was "provided" by the police which entailed picking up a body without first assessing what could be wrong and throwing the body into the back of a paddy wagon - unattended. Needless to say they lost many patients this way.

It was through the tiresome work of a ground-breaking doctor, Safer (the father of CPR) and his fight to train the men that would become the premiere EMTs in the world. When Freedom House was at risk of losing more funding, Safer recruited its final director, Dr. Nancy Caroline. She would make runs with the men of Freedom House and fought for them through the racist rules to get what was rightfully theirs.

The story focuses on John Moon's journey from emptying bed pans to learning how to do a tracheotomy. This requires extensive training and is difficult to perfom in even the most calm conditions. John excelled at his job, but when circumstances pushed him into EMT position with people with less experience, he had to fight tooth and nail for his place at the top.

This is an eye-opening story about a group of men (and some women) largely forgotten in the world of medicine. It's time to recognize their contribution to emergency medicine.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to receive an advance copy of this to review! (This comes out Sept 20, 2022)

Why don’t more people know about America’s first paramedics?

This nonfiction book reads like fiction. Hazzard does a fantastic job of painting a scene that portrays facts and information in a way that feels like cinema. If you don’t normally read nonfiction- give this book a shot.

As a Pittsburgher, I was embarrassed to learn that I didn’t know about Freedom House and the origins of America’s paramedics. In my opinion, this book should be required reading for anyone in Pittsburgh or the medical field (and doubly so for those that are both!). If you just want to cozy up with a good book and learn a few things in the process- this book is for you!

I teared up multiple times when reading, either from happiness or sadness. The small wins that Freedom House had made me punch the air in victory. I felt like I was along for the ride in one of Freedom House’s ambulances, speeding through the streets of a 1970s ‘burgh,

We, as a nation, owe a lot to Freedom House and the Black men who worked tirelessly to save lives. They were GOOD- quite possibly the BEST lifesavers in the country and yet so few people know their stories.

Read this book and spread the word!!

[Kendall Snee · Rating 5 out of 5]

10000000000/10

Her truth today was the same as tomorrow
Whose needs were ignored because they could never be met

And once again life was happening to them

Suddenly Pittsburgh was all around them

Crunching cpr into a lifeless chest

His desire to keep climbing came with a need to remember

The ambulance had once again hit a speed bump and kept going

We had all the momentum we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave after all that hope had bled out into the 70s less than 5 years later with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back

Just turning, the key was an act of faith

That there was even a pause between the possibility that she might not make it and the reality of his hands on her skin says it all

There’s never one impact but many


Will you dive after me if I sink too deep

SLT stupid little thing

Changing hearts was not so simple as restarting them

Strange bedfellows

So he stood there holding the bag

But hoping that one day some defense mechanism will come to my rescue.”

[Heather Slaugh Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know that until the 70s, ambulances-- basically empty vans-- were run by untrained policemen or mortuaries, yes mortuaries, with no attempt at medical intervention until they reached the hospital?

So the father of CPR/emergency medicine had this idea to train people to do medical help in ambulances, but nobody would invest in it. And the president of a grant awarding medical fund wants to improve the access to ambulances in black neighbors because policemen either refused to go there or didn't treat those patients well. They get together and create the first EMT course and the first ambulances with medical equipment. With a group of all black paramedics because no one else would go into those neighborhoods. They literally invent the field of emergency street medicine. And the city of Pittsburgh refuses to adopt it citywide until they win a federal grant to basically set the bar nationwide. Plus other racial drama.
Probably 3.5 stars because the writing can be a bit flowery. But overall an inspiring and frustrating story.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is everything i could have ever dreamed of and i didn’t even know i needed it in my life

[Shell (booksbythecup) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Hachette Books for ARC.

Stellar history lesson on the start of emergency medical services in the US. Something we easily take for granted, but when you consider the relatively short history of EMS service and the professionals who fought hard for its establishment. The first paramedic teams started in Pittsburgh at a place called Freedom House staffed by Black men. I mean, where was this history in the text books! Do you know who the father of CPR is? I've taken CPR training years ago and don't recall mention of Peter Safar. If you haven't done so, I highly recommend reading this book. Former Atlanta paramedic at Grady (IYKYK) does a fantastic job schooling us in the pages of AMAERICAN SIRENS.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up watching “Emergency!”, paramedics seemed the norm in critical, emergency medical care. Kevin Hazzard’s “American Sirens” will turn that perception on its ear. He deftly tells the story of Freedom House, America’s first paramedic service. His writing is crisp, gripping, and draws you into this true story of the Black men who manned this service. Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Books for the opportunity to preview this book. #americansirens #netgalley #hachettebooks

[CatReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, compellingly-written history of Pittsburgh's Freedom House, the US' first emergency medical service operated by medically-trained paramedics. Freedom House was founded in 1967 and was closed in 1975 due to various political issues, though they did serve as a model for the development of similar emergency medical services nationwide and beyond -- it was shocking but not entirely surprising to learn that prior to the 1960s and even into the 1970s, the people providing emergency medical care in community settings often had very little medical training or necessary equipment to safely stabilize patients before delivering them to hospitals. At Freedom House, paramedics were trained to intubate patients, start IVs, perform CPR, and much more, often with very rudimentary equipment.

With rare exceptions, the Freedom House paramedics, dispatchers, and secretaries were all Black people. The population they were created to serve was Pittsburgh's predominantly Black Hill District. This of course reflects racial tensions of their time (many of which still persist today) -- so many ugly aspects of racism are raised in this book regarding the EMTs' interactions with the predominantly white police force, and the subsequent racial discrimination Freedom House employees faced after Freedom House ceased to operate and former employees were folded into (and often forced out of) the Pittsburgh Bureau of Emergency Medical Services. Hazzard uses Black paramedic John Moon as one of the stories' central characters -- he persisted in his medical career after Freedom House closed and retired as the Assistant Chief of the Pittsburgh EMS, and continues to speak on the groundbreaking work done at Freedom House today.

[Denise LaRosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hazzard chronicles the journey of the group of individuals who mastered street medicine, becoming the first paramedics in United States history.

Perhaps the most remarkable truth about this group of predominantly Black men is that they were able to provide high quality care to the residents of Pittsburgh’s Hill District with little to no support from the city of Pittsburgh.

Working through the challenges of racism and politics, the Father of CPR, Dr. Safar and others were able to conceptualize, develop, and implement groundbreaking EMS care at a time when such services were virtually nonexistent.

Hazzard’s ability to masterfully capture the history and narratives of those who were key figures in this major experience is nothing short of impressive and deeply inspiring, even profoundly emotional. It is no easy feat to write a work of nonfiction that is both informative and compelling, yet Hazzard does so with the respect, understanding, and compassion this historic moment so rightfully deserves.

I can easily envision this turning into a movie, a Hidden Figures type of film that will lift up the story of Freedom House EMS, forever establishing the significance of this critical moment in medical history.

[Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A million things separate doctors from medics, and among them, on a list that includes education and training and pay, overlooked by everyone who's never confronted the peculiar realities of the job, is that medics have no specialty."

"Beyond their duties, paramedics represent an ideal. An assurance from society, backed by money, that human lives are sacred and will be saved anywhere and everywhere they're in danger."

This book is amazing. Following the start of Freedom House - a group of Black men in Pittsburgh lacking medical backgrounds, recruited to be the country's first paramedics. The reader feels like they're in the ambulance with John Moon and the other Freedom House paramedics trying to save lives on a regular basis.

Reading about Peter Safar and his medical advances was a huge highlight of this book. The scene of paralyzing volunteers to show the advantage of mouth to mouth resuscitation as a life saving method was breathtaking. It gave me chills.

Loved it!

[Joshua Bishop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this was a good book, though it was a very long listen as an audiobook. It tells a really great account of the first formalized and trained paramedics in Pittsburgh, PA - Freedom House. What I was hoping to get out of this was a lot of history about Freedom House itself, which was provided, however equally time filling was the personal biography of each important individual with Freedom House. Each of their stories is important, and carries with it significance and weight, however, as a first responder, looking at the history of a profession - it was not why I chose to read this which did impact my opinion of it.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible story of grit! It is a fantastic and little-known story about the beginnings of EMS. These men and women deserve much recognition; I'm glad this book brings some of that to them, albeit much later than deserved.

[Becky Hjellming · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super important not well known history. Also apparently I have a thing for ambulances.

[Dana Juliette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was very moved by this true story. It was a bit slow to start but it picked up!

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A critical and remarkable history of America’s first paramedics. Full of information about the development of CPR and emergency care. Getting past confounding racism and frustrating bureaucracy, the story of these men and women is a history we should all know.

[Kallie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fascinating and frustrating, how poorly the first paramedics were treated (mostly due to their being Black) and how hard the city fought to kill the paramedic program. It's hard to believe how recent full service ambulances are. Also, thank goodness for CPR but who in the world allowed that experiment to go forward?!

[Alondra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another example of Black Americans leading the way during a time that makes it almost impossible for them to do so. Without Freedom House we would not have the emergency medical services we have today.
This was such an amazing story and I highly recommend anyone in the healthcare field reads this.

[Arielle Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow… just wow. A must read.

[Jael · Rating 4 out of 5]

So good to know history and how this live saving units were created.