03081cam a2200301 i 4500 771886450 TxAuBib 20220917120000.0 220514s2022||||||||||||||||||||||||eng|u 2022006917 9780306926075 HRD 30.00 0306926075 HRD 30.00 LBSOR/DLC eng rda DLC NjBwBT IMmBT NjBwBT TxAuBib rda Hazzard, Kevin M., 1977-, author. American sirens [Book] : the incredible story of the Black men who became America's first paramedics / Kevin Hazzard. First edition. New York : Hachette Books, 2022. xviii, 316 pages ; 24 cm. txt rdacontent n rdamedia nc rdacarrier Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-316). "Up until 1968, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. That all changed with the Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America's first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicinearound the world, only to have their legacy erased-until now. Born from the vision of a Nobel Prize-nominated physician, the needs of a country in pain, and the ashes of Pittsburgh's downturn in the 1960s, Freedom House brought together a group of young,uneducated Black men to forge a new frontier in health care. Their job was grueling, the rules made up as they went along, and their mandate nearly impossible: prove to a skeptical public and the politicians that paramedics were a noble and valuable endeavor and, most importantly, that they themselves were worthy professionals performing a crucial public service. Despite the long odds and attempts to shut them down, they succeeded spectacularly. In American Sirens, acclaimed journalist and paramedic Kevin Hazzard tells a dramatic story of heroes and villains, of brutal attempts to stifle hope, and the resilience of a community that fought back. 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 young doctor who turned a scrappy team into an international leader. At every turn they battled racism-from the community, the police, and the government. 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"-- Provided by publisher. 20221004. Freedom House Ambulance Service (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Emergency medical technicians Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Biography. Ambulance service Pennsylvania Pittsburgh History 20th century.