Episode 6: The Freedom House Paramedics

In 1967, a group of 26 men from Pittsburgh’s struggling Hill District patrolled the streets in an unprecedented way. They were Black men with Afros and uniforms that read Freedom House Paramedics, trained in advanced pre-hospital medical procedures never seen before. The Freedom House story is both fascinating and tragic. This group was the first intensively trained paramedics in the country, and they were made up of individuals from a poor resource-deprived community. Sadly, their contributions have been largely forgotten. In this episode, we highlight the Freedom House Paramedics, a pioneering medical group that was the first of its kind.