![]() ![]() “This is one way we can give back to correct social injustice,” he said. Hickey also said program leaders compared social justice issues experienced in 2020 to those experienced by the original Freedom House participants. We’re truly trying to build them a pipeline to whatever they (students) want to be in the future.” ![]() We couldn’t go without the University of Pittsburgh and its Center for Emergency Medicine for offering the training opportunity. “During the pandemic, we noticed a great need for first responders and local community advocates,” said Hickey, who is also a program manager for community services at UPMC Health Plan. Program leader Kenneth Hickey said Freedom House 2.0 was started as a way to increase diversity and spur workforce development during the COVID-19 pandemic. ![]() This in turn can help reduce hospital admissions and readmissions.” “These are folks who can now go into homes and do an assessment rather than just take people to hospitals. These folks are being trained to become community paramedics, or rather community health practitioners,” said Thomas Platt, associate professor and director of Pitt’s Emergency Medicine program. “EMS response solely to 9-1-1 emergencies will soon become a thing of the past. ![]() Program leaders said successful graduates will become the future of EMS. Transforming prehospital care and communities-again “Just to be able to learn more about the body and how it works, to give me the opportunity to be better for my community, going above and saving lives, it’s very inspiring,” said Elijah Sellers, a student in the first cohort of Freedom House 2.0, in an interview conducted by KDKA-TV, a CBS affiliate. They can also use their experience to continue their studies. Successful graduates will be guaranteed an interview with UPMC and other job placement support. The training focuses on traditional emergency medical services and on equipping first responders to help address critical, non-emergency psychosocial needs-such as poorly managed chronic medical and behavioral health conditions and a lack of access to resources to address them-that comprise a significant portion of 911 calls. Participants receive mentorship and financial support, as well as state-approved emergency medical technician (EMT) certification and community paramedic/health care worker training.įaculty members from Pitt’s Emergency Medicine program are teaching and providing instructional resources. See how Pitt people paved the way for modern emergency medicine.įreedom House 2.0, like its predecessor, is leveraging expertise from the University of Pittsburgh to train first responders from economically disadvantaged communities, many of which have been significantly impacted by COVID-19. The program is just one piece of a long history of revolutionary approaches to prehospital care. Pretty soon, they were running one of the nation’s most advanced ambulance services. Watch a video from UPMC about the launch of Freedom House 2.0 and learn more about the history of Freedom House from Pitt Med magazine: The original program opened in the Hill District in 1967, planning to jumpstart businesses that would offer meaningful employment to the community. Sometimes, they won’t be the most enjoyable patients, but it’s a very awesome, difference-making responsibility. “You have to have a mind or heart of compassion and empathy for people you’re taking care of. “You get out of this career what you put into it,” Moon recently told the first cohort of Freedom House 2.0, the spiritual sequel to the original program. I want that legacy that Freedom House left to always be remembered." Though he retired in 2010, he’s still working to do just that. John Moon was a member of Pittsburgh’s Freedom House from 1972 to 1975. Police with no medical training might race a patient to the hospital with no special equipment or care, and many avoided Black neighborhoods altogether.įrom 1968-1975, Freedom House provided emergency medical services (EMS) training to individuals in the city’s Hill District, a primarily Black and economically disadvantaged part of the city. Before the 1960s, when the first Freedom House ambulances hit the streets of Pittsburgh, prehospital medical care was almost nonexistent. ![]()
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