| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xviii, 316 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-316). |
| Summary |
"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 medicine around 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 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. |
| Subject |
Freedom House Ambulance Service (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
|
|
Emergency medical technicians -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh -- Biography.
|
|
Ambulance service -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Ambulance service. (OCoLC)fst00806788
|
|
Emergency medical technicians. (OCoLC)fst00908603
|
|
Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
(OCoLC)fst01205171
|
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
|
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
|
Biographies.
|
| ISBN |
9780306926075 (hardcover) |
|
0306926075 (hardcover) |
|
9780306926082 (ebook) |
|
