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A review by lizaroo71
American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America's First Paramedics by Kevin Hazzard
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
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.
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.