JEMS.com Editor’s Note:Do you have an idea that would cut down on non-emergent 9-1-1 calls, such as having Medicare pay for taxi rides for certain patients? Let us know in the comment field in“Not Quite an Emergency”.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Have a nosebleed? Involved in a fender bender in which no one’s hurt? Encounter a man on the street who’s clearly been dead for days?
In the past, ambulances would routinely respond to these types of incidents, even when their presence was obviously unnecessary – tying up already overburdened paramedics, delaying their response to critical emergencies and costing $1.4 million a year.
No more. Under a new program that went into effect Monday, San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood said ambulances won’t be sent if no one is hurt, the injuries suffered are minor or patients don’t require transportation to a hospital.
Citing Fire Department statistics collected between March 2007 and February 2008, Hood said ambulances were going to scenes when they weren’t needed. Of nearly 55,000 emergency calls, paramedics transported patients to the hospital less than four out of 10 times.
“If you truly need an ambulance, you’re going to get an ambulance,” Hood said at a press conference announcing the initiative. “But we’re just keeping those units available for more serious incidents.”
Hood said firefighters would still make all scenes – as they do anyway – able to offer basic medical care. All fire trucks also come equipped with medical equipment.
Hood is also going to focus on putting more paramedics on fire trucks, either through promotions or expanded training. Currently, a paramedic is onboard a fire truck a little more than a third of the time, he said, adding, “Our goal is 100 percent.”
Under the new program, dispatchers will better screen 911 calls to determine which require an ambulance.
Fire Department data shows six types of emergencies that often don’t result in serious injuries. These include animal bites, where out of 680 emergency calls between March 2007 and February 2008, patients were hospitalized only 15 percent of the time. Of 18,179 traffic accidents in that time period, only 25 percent required hospitalization, and of 1,677 medical alert alarms, fewer than 13 percent.
If there’s any doubt about a call, an ambulance will go, Hood said, adding, “We’re always going to err on the side of the patient.”
But he implored the public to help make the system work by staying on the phone long enough to answer all of the dispatcher’s questions.
He said 50 percent of assault and traffic accident calls are hang-ups, preventing the dispatcher from determining what type of response would be best.
“Just stay on the phone,” he said. “Give us as much information as possible.”
