People who go to Unity’s Lincoln Highway Experience museum on Saturday will get a chance to learn about an innovative ambulance service that began in 1967 in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.
Andrew Blenko, who lives in North Huntingdon, will present “Freedom House Ambulance Service: A Lincoln Highway Pioneer” at 1 p.m.
The price is $5 per person, with cookies and coffee available for a suggested donation of $1. Those who attend can also take a discounted tour of the museum, which is located along Route 30 eastbound.
Blenko, a former engineer and planning director for North Huntingdon Township, also worked in emergency medical services in the Pittsburgh area for 26 years, where he learned from the methods introduced by Freedom House.
“I didn’t realize until many years later the incredible pioneering work that was done with Freedom House,” said Blenko. “They really set the stage for many services in the suburbs, which followed their lead into advanced life support.”
Expanding beyond basic first aid, advanced life support procedures performed before reaching a hospital — like starting intravenous fluids — aim to stabilize critically ill patients who may have experienced a life-threatening event.
“It wouldn’t have happened until ten years later if Freedom House had not initiated that in 1967,” said Blenko. “The idea of someone starting that outside of a hospital setting was unheard of.
“It truly paved the way for emergency medical services as we know them today.”
Blenko was motivated to create his presentation after seeing a Freedom House exhibit featured in the “Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation” display at the Heinz History Center.
The ambulance service was a collaborative effort between Pittsburgh’s Presbyterian University Hospital and Freedom House Enterprises, a nonprofit Black-run organization dedicated to the advancement of Black-owned and operated businesses. Freedom House trained unemployed Hill District residents, both male and female, to provide emergency medical care.
Freedom House Ambulance Service operated until 1975, when Pittsburgh decided to launch its own emergency medical services training program and service.
According to Blenko, who volunteers at the Lincoln Highway Experience, it’s fitting for him to bring his ambulance presentation to that museum.
Museum site director Scott Simpson pointed out that the Hill District neighborhood was situated just off the historic Lincoln Highway.
Visit lhhc.org for more information.
