ALBANY, NY – Albany Medical Center hosted a historical discussion Wednesday spotlighting the origins of modern paramedic services in America. The event centered on the Freedom House in Pittsburgh, widely considered the nation’s frist model for pre-hospital emergency medical care, and the recently published book, “American Sirens,” which chronicles its story.
The discussion featured Mitchell Brown, the former operations director of the Freedom House, alongside Kevin Hazzard, author of “American Sirens,” and Albany Med emergency department staff. Brown described the meaning of documenting the Freedom House’s history, stating, “It means a lot too me because…the book is really special.It takes the time to chronicle what happened in the late 1960s and later early into the 1970s. it just doesn’t get any better than that. And the more people are aware of it, the better off we are.”
Established in a lower socioeconomic and predominantly Black community, the Freedom House quickly expanded its services to provide emergency medical attention to all in need. Its core principle,as articulated by Brown,was to “bring the care to the patient,not the patient to the care.”
Hazzard,who was born at albany Med,expressed the importance of revisiting this history,saying,”It’s really incredible…anytime you get a chance to talk about a story like this,it’s so critically important and it’s so relevant today.” He was motivated to write “American Sirens” because he felt the freedom House story had been overlooked for too long.
Albany Med staff emphasized the relevance of this history to current challenges in local healthcare access. Emergency Department Nurse Pamela Young noted,”Knowing how we started and where we’re going makes it critically important so that we can reach the community we serve. It’s also important because we see these inequities every day…There’s a pharmacy desert here in albany. There are ambulance deserts. So knowing that this is where it started helps us bridge that gap between us and our patients.”