American Sirens

“Remarkable….there are a lot of terrific stories and interesting characters, and it's worth getting this.”

“Journalist and former paramedic Kevin Hazzard paints a vivid picture of the nation’s first EMS service….His book succeeds in recalling long-overlooked events. It’s a medical and human drama that will make readers appreciate the courage of the first paramedics, the foresight of a physician not content to restrict emergency medicine to other doctors and the artistry of modern EMS workers. It’s also a narrative bristling with the indignities of racism and medical ignorance. Hazzard’s subjects defied and overcame prejudice but also were often overwhelmed by both….American Sirens isn’t a book you’re likely to forget.”

“A gripping story of the people, places, and times that led to the development of Freedom House Ambulance Service, a Pittsburgh-based group of Black men whose efforts laid the foundation for the emergency medical services we take for granted today. Like many chapters of Black history, American Sirens is equal parts tragic and inspiring.” 

"A riveting portrait...a fascinating and deeply rewarding study of triumph in the face of adversity."

“A work that a reads like a novel. Hazzard relates how a group of African American visionaries, most of whom had been trapped in menial jobs, saw what health-policy experts did not . . .  After their new discipline proved its value in saving lives, organized emergency care, like so many arenas in US medicine, excluded the Black men who invented it and effaced the history of what all Americans owe them, but this riveting page-turner brings these medical heroes long-delayed acclaim.”
 

"Kevin Hazzard...does an excellent job of transforming his research into a compelling narrative suitable to his gripping subject....American Sirens is a stirring, ultimately heartbreaking story in which jaw-dropping medical innovation meets racial prejudice. After finishing Hazzard's memorable account, readers will never hear an ambulance siren the same way again."

"In a quintessentially American story that reads like a novel, Kevin Hazzard crafts an amazing story of an Austrian immigrant, an unlikely group of Black men, and a minority community in Pittsburgh who transformed paramedic and ambulance care throughout the United States . . . This heart-warming story is not just Black history, but American history, and every American truly owes the medics of Freedom House a debt of gratitude."
 

"Kevin Hazzard's revelatory American Sirens is a rich, vibrant and deeply human look into the wild journey of American innovation. Hazzard's exacting and expansive research is deeply present on every page, yet it feels invisible, as this electric story pulses, engages, and surprises like a great novel. Each chapter unlocks a new and important angle of this almost forgotten story, which makes it almost pathologically compelling to read. American Sirens brings a necessary spotlight to a fascinating, near-forgotten, and uniquely American tale."

“An amazing book: a forgotten story about real life health care heroes inseparable from the ongoing tragedy of racism in America. Kevin Hazzard has performed a national service by writing American Sirens.”

"In this brilliant narrative, Kevin Hazzard leads us on a tour through the history of jazz, baseball, and the misnamed “urban renewal,” to set the stage for Freedom House, a Pittsburgh ambulance service staffed by Black men, that birthed the emergency medical services we all rely on today."

“Hazzard has a novelist’s sense of character and narrative drive. He’s at his best telling the story of John Moon [which] makes for gripping and inspiring reading. And Hazzard’s own experience as a paramedic helps us understand why achievement’s like Moon’s learning how to do an intubation in the field was such a big deal…Readers of American Sirens will be more than satisfied, and can hope Hazzard has helped revive and secure the legacy of everyone who breathed Freedom House into life.”

“If readers have ever wondered about the history of paramedicine and how it can transform lives (paramedic and patient alike) look no further than this wonderful, enlightening work by former paramedic [Kevin] Hazzard…. Through extensive research and interviews, the author successfully incorporates the checkered history of paramedicine with the racial and social history of the mid-20th century. Furthermore, he engages the reader with the personal stories of all those involved in the development of the new system. Hazzard has fashioned an exceptional work about radical changes in health care and the importance of community in dark times.”

A Publishers' Weekly Book of the Week Pick!

**Winner of The Christopher Award for books that highlight kindness, courage, and faith**