Crystal Yates '88

Crystal Yates came to Bishop McDevitt from Saint Raymond's Parish.  She graduated from Bishop McDevitt in 1988 and went on to attend West Chester University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Studies.  She is a mother of two and the daughter of a Philadelphia firefighter.

Crystal joined the Philadelphia Fire Department as a paramedic in 1998 and began her service at Engine 59 Medic Unit 4 in Nicetown. She worked at several medic units before being promoted to lieutenant in 2005 and made history as the first African-American female to be promoted to the rank of Fire Paramedic in 2013.  In 2014 she was chosen to launch the EMS Community Risk Reduction and Mobile Integrated Health Unit. 

Crystal continued to make history in 2017 when she was sworn in as the first black woman to be Paramedic Service Chief.  In a Philadelphia Inquirer article when asked how she felt about making history she said, 'I was proud and sad because that was in 2017.  Imagine the first fire department in the United States and we're all the way in 2017 before that happens.'

As the Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Medical Services for the Philadelphia Fire Department, Crystal oversees the operations for the only 911 provided for the city.  The department's 2,700 person team responds to 850 medical incidents every day in a city with the highest poverty rate among large cities.

She also serves on the Mayor's Philadelphia Resilience Project which is responsible to address the opioid crisis and is fortified with the collective impact from involvement with local public health, law enforcement, housing, civic organization leaders, and other city agencies. Crystal's McDevitt Catholic education values were very clear and evident in a Philadelphia Daily News article when she was quoted saying, 'I really, really deeply love Philadelphia.  I want to be to sit at whatever policy table will be able to impact Philadelphia positively.' 

Crystal is a Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Leadership at the Yale School of Management and she is a Leadership Philadellphia alumna.