Freedom House EMT Academy celebrates its first graduating class
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - On Wednesday morning, Pittsburgh welcomed a new group of EMTs. Nine people received their EMT certification at Frankie Pace Park after graduating in the first class of the Freedom House EMT Academy, named after the first EMS service in the U.S. founded in Pittsburgh.
Marino Barbabella thought he would go to law school, but one day, he drove by a car crash and decided to join a volunteer fire department.
"From that point, I just kind of fell in love with the field, started to realize that's what I wanted to do," Barbabella said.
Destined to become a first responder, he learned about the new Freedom House EMT Academy, applied for the program, and got in.
"Just a few months ago, we were all strangers. Now we're pretty close friends," Barbabella said.
EMS Chief Amera Gilchrist said in the 25 years she's been with the bureau, they never had an EMT training program until now.
"We actually took people, regular citizens, off the street and put them through school and showed them what EMS is all about," Gilchrist said.
It pays homage to the original Freedom House Ambulance Service, created in the 1960s, in the Hill District.
"If it weren't for the men and women of Freedom House, I wouldn't be the chief of this department right now," Gilchrist said.
It's a 12-week program that's all paid. Every member of the first class passed.
"I'm like the proud mama bear. I am just elated," Gilchrist said.
Now Gilchrist looks forward to seeing how it evolves in the future and eventually hopes to start a paramedic academy as well, through it all, trying to keep history alive.
"It's a really special feeling like, given the history of Freedom House and the long-running roots and traditions of it, to be able to bear its name is absolutely a privilege and an honor," Barbabella said.
Gilchrist said the next class starts in September.
If you want to sign up for the program you must be 18, have a driver's license and high school diploma or GED, pass a background and drug test, and be a city resident. When the department is searching for new candidates, you'll find postings here.