Social Studies: Freedom House Ambulance – The FIRST Responders
In 1967, Pittsburgh’s inner city produced America’s first EMT service. Comprised solely of Black men and women recruited from the city’s Hill District neighborhood, the paramedics of Freedom House Ambulance became trailblazers in providing pre-hospital and CPR care. Freedom House was initially conceived to respond to the needs of Pittsburgh’s African American community who often times couldn’t rely on police and fire departments during an emergency. Their groundbreaking work became the basis for all paramedics training in the country.
