John Moon – 2026
John Moon
Perseverance, Resilience, and Determination in EMS
Freedom House Ambulance Service • Pittsburgh EMS
The Legacy of Freedom House: Lessons in Perseverance, Resiliency and Determination
The legacy of Freedom House is a clear example of lessons in perseverance, resilience, and determination by a group of creative changemakers who weathered setbacks, frustrations, disappointments, and broken promises to create a prehospital care system utilized worldwide.
About John Moon
John Moon began his EMS career in 1972 with Freedom House Ambulance, after seeing the impressive crews in action while working as an orderly in a local hospital. After completing the necessary training on his own, he was hired by Freedom House and changed the course of his life.
Mr. Moon demonstrated his competence and determination at his new-found calling and was selected by Dr. Peter Safar to be the first medic to perform endotracheal intubation on patients in surgery. After succeeding on his first attempt in the operating room, Moon went on to perform what is believed to be the nation’s first intubation in the field by a paramedic.
When the City of Pittsburgh ended its contract with Freedom House in 1975 and instituted its own ambulance service, Moon was one of the few Freedom House paramedics who successfully made (and endured) the transition. During his time at Pittsburgh EMS, Moon became a certified master scuba diver, the first and only African American in Pittsburgh Public Safety to acquire this certification. He progressed through the ranks and developed Pittsburgh EMS’s first diversity recruitment program.
John Moon retired as Assistant Chief of Pittsburgh EMS in 2009 after 34 years of service. He now dedicates much of his time in retirement to ensuring the history of Freedom House Ambulance is not forgotten. He travels the country speaking at Black history events and EMS conferences, as well as book signing tours with author Kevin Hazzard who featured Moon in his 2022 book American Sirens. He was an invited guest at President Biden’s State of the Union address in 2024.
Freedom House Ambulance Service
Freedom House Ambulance Service was the first emergency medical service in the United States staffed by paramedics with medical training beyond basic first aid. Founded in 1967 to serve the predominantly Black Hill District of Pittsburgh, it was staffed entirely by African Americans recruited from the local community.
Under the guidance of Dr. Peter Safar — a pioneer of CPR — and later medical director Dr. Nancy Caroline, the Freedom House paramedics were trained to previously unheard-of standards of emergency care. Their 32-week, 300-hour training course covered anatomy, physiology, CPR, defibrillation, intubation, cardiac care, and I.V. drug administration — skills that no ambulance crews in the country possessed at the time.
The paramedic training curriculum and ambulance design standards pioneered by Freedom House set the standard for emergency care nationally and internationally. Cities including Miami, Los Angeles, and Jacksonville adopted the Freedom House model, and the ambulance design was adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as the official national standard.
Despite its groundbreaking achievements, Freedom House Ambulance Service was closed on October 15, 1975 when the city replaced it with its own ambulance service. The legacy of Freedom House lives on as the foundation of modern EMS.
The Freedom House Ambulance Service crew, Pittsburgh, PA
A young John Moon during his Freedom House days