American Sirens
Kevin Hazzard
American Sirens is about Freedom House, a Black ambulance service from Pittsburgh that set worldwide Emergency Medical Services (EMS) standards and revolutionized pre-hospital care. It also describes Freedom House’s eventual collapse in the face of overwhelming racism.
Background
1960s-1970s Pittsburgh, a city with wide racial inequalities. Race relations were so sour that the city government neglected large swathes of Pittsburgh’s population. Black residents and police were estranged from one another. And since, at the time, ambulance services consisted of police, residents from Black neighborhoods would experience worse medical outcomes even before getting to the hospital.
Principal Actors:
Peter Safar: An Austrian-born doctor whose daughter died of Asthma on the way to the hospital. He had taken residence in Pittsburgh and developed CPR. He was instrumental in setting up and training the Freedom House paramedic crew.
Freedom House Ambulance Crew: Black Pittsburghers who wanted to do something meaningful with their lives. Rampant racism excluded them from many respectable local jobs.
Working at Freedom House offered a chance to be recognized for their skills and knowledge regardless of their skin color. Furthermore, employees were respected by residents of Black neighborhoods, and over time, they gained renown throughout the country.
Nancy Caroline: First Director of Freedom House. She later became the first medical director of the Israeli Red Cross.
Appraisal:
American Sirens is a valuable book because it brings to light a piece of American history I had never heard about. It details some contributions of Black Americans and doesn’t turn its face from the racism that so defined 1970s America.
I enjoyed the American Sirens, though I think it would be better to read in print rather than as an audiobook. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it as much as Hazzard’s last book, A Thousand Naked Strangers.
Hazzard explores the lives of certain subjects and people deeply. He then uses them to paint the history of Freedom House. It is a niche history book peppered with sociology for interest.
Anyone interested in the 1960s and ’70s, Black History, Pittsburgh, or the history of Paramedic Services would profit from reading American Sirens.
Did you read American Sirens? What did you think?