Pittsburgh's Freedom House Ambulance Service was the first emergency medical service in the U.S. staffed by paramedics with medical training beyond basic first aid. Today, Pittsburgh is again the stage for inspiration - this time through the popular Max original medical drama series The Pitt. 

Join Pitt Public Health for a special screening of The Pitt followed by a panel discussion with original members of Freedom House and local EMS leadership and health professionals - some who played essential roles advising The Pitt.

Registration required

Supported by FORWARDS student organization and Akoma United.

The Pitt advisors

• Sheila Roth, professor emeritus, Carlow University, behavioral health clinician focusing on first responder trauma and wellbeing, lecturer/educator for public safety providers and behavioral health clinicians
• Ronald Roth, professor of emergency medicine, former medical director for the Pittsburgh Bureu of EMS, associate program director of Emergency Medical Services Fellowship, emergency physician, city of Pittsburgh Department of Pubilc Safety
• Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, associate professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine, EMS medical director at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
• Ameera Gilchrist, chief of Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS, mentee of Freedom House Chief John Moon

Freedom House members

• John Moon, original Freedom House member, former assistant chief of Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS, first non-medical person to perform an endotracheal intubation
• Darnella Wilson, original Freedom House member, one of the first dispatchers for Freedom House, former registered nurse
• George McCary III, original Freedom House member
• Mitchell Brown, original Freedom House member, former councilman in Columbus, OH, former director of the city of Columbus, former director of the City of Columbus Department of Public Safety, administrative director of St. Vincent Charity Hospital Health Center's Department of Surgery Division of Trauma and registrar of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, former paramedic and former member of the U.S. Air Force.
• Phil Halen, founder and original funder of Freedom House Ambulance, advancer of the idea of high-quality emergency medical service, former president of the Maurice Falk Medical Fund, former ambulance driver, chairman of the OEO Health Committee