VIDEO: Albany Medical Center brought medical history to life on Wednesday. Medical professionals gathered for a discussion about the Freedom House, which served as Americaโs first model for paramedic services.
Pre-hospital medicine is a big focus at Albany Med, thatโs why a team from the emergency department held a discussion on the book โAmerican Sirens,โ which documents the origins of emergency medical services.
One of the nationโs very first paramedics was at Albany Med and was joined by the โAmerican Sirensโ author.
Mitchell Brown was the operations director of the Freedom House, considered the countryโs first model for paramedic services.
โIt means a lot to me because, again, the book is really special. It takes the time to chronicle what happened in the late 1960s and subsequently early into the 1970s. It just doesnโt get any better than that. And the more people are aware of it, the better off we are,โ said Brown.
The Freedom House, in Pittsburgh, was answering a need in a lower socioeconomic and predominantly black community, which quickly expanded to helping all in need of emergency medical attention.
