Community ParaMedicine

On April 16 I spoke with Lincoln Fire Chief Steve Carter. He told me about Community ParaMedicine, a collaborative effort he is working on involving the Council on Aging, public safety, and social service agencies etc. This is a community outreach effort designed to help families remain safe in their homes. http://communityparamedic.org/. An article in today’s Boston Globe highlighted a similar roll-out happening at EasCare, an ambulance company in Dorchester. http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2014/05/30/paramedics-branch-into-home-care/WIBIbjRuBx6mQCeoNb3c3K/story.html

The article reports, “How ambulance companies deliver home care services vary. In some programs, they respond to calls from patients or providers. In others, they make scheduled visits, following up, for example, after patients are released from hospitals to ensure they take medications and adhere to doctors’ instructions.” This is quite similar to what I was told by Carter. In essence, they provide the eye and ear of the professional in a home base setting. Carter said that to a large extent they know who these people are already and many are repeat customers. By proactively checking in with them and making sure they are safe in their homes they can circumvent the need for emergency treatment.

This approach seems like common sense to me, help people before they get themselves into a, in this case health related, jam and many a crisis can be averted. The approach is being driven by the Affordable Care Act which is providing strong incentives for hospitals and providers to reduce both trips to the emergency rooms and hospital stays. According to the article in the Globe, “a pilot program showed that paramedic care eliminated emergency room visits for 73 percent of 135 seniors treated over nine months in 2011.” That sounds like good planning to me.