09-04-2020, 07:44 AM
99% Invisible had a great episode recently about Freedom House Ambulance Service, which was one of the first professional paramedic services and formed to serve Pittsburgh's black community which received substandard service from the police, who were responsible for responding to medical emergencies at that time. There's a lot of detail to the story and lots of shitty racism, but the success of their model eventually was the birth of paramedicine as a separate profession and is an example of defunding the police.
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/f...e-service/
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/f...e-service/