annual report
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COMMUNITY PARAMEDICINE
What is Mobile Integrated Healthcare and
Community Paramedicine
In short, Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) is the provision of
healthcare using patient-centered, mobile resources in the out-ofhospital environment. Since the creation of modern emergency medical
services (EMS), EMS has largely been considered a transportation
system for people suffering a medical or trauma related healthcare
emergency. However, recent changes in healthcare have created an
exciting opportunity for EMS to evolve from a transportation service
to a fully integrated component of our nation’s healthcare system.
EMS is uniquely situated within the communities and with the proper
medical oversight, can efficiently and effectively direct patients to
the right care, in the right setting at the right time.
Community Paramedicine (CP) is one aspect of MIH in which
paramedics function outside their customary emergency response
and transport roles in ways that facilitate more appropriate use of
emergency care resources and/or enhance access to primary care
for medically underserved populations. The focus is on providing
services, where access to care is limited, or a short term medical
intervention is needed. CP programs are typically designed to
address specific local problems and therefore vary in nature.
Interest in community paramedicine has substantially grown in
recent years based on the belief that by targeting locally identified
health care needs, and offering a creative solution to fill local health
care gaps, CP helps to increase access to care, and often reduces
health care costs by providing the right level of care based on the
individual’s medical need.
San Bernardino County Fire was awarded the opportunity to participate in a Community Paramedicine pilot study on post discharge
follow-up of the congestive heart failure (CHF) patient. In this study,
we will partner with Rialto Fire Department, San Bernardino County
Department of Public Health and Arrowhead Regional Medical
Center to provide a post discharge follow up visit to the patient’s
home in order to perform a home safety evaluation and a physical
assessment on the patient to ensure they are following their hospital
discharge plan as directed. During the follow up visit, the Community Paramedic will also verify the patient’s understanding of their
disease process and discharge medications. Should the patient
require further medical treatment, the Community Paramedic will
assist the patient in accessing primary care.
The paramedics chosen to participate in this study will be required
to complete 160+ hours of intense additional training including
classroom and clinical work. The pilot study is currently slated to
begin in March 2015.