Not everyone who calls 911 with a medical concern needs an ambulance and a fully staffed fire truck to show up at their house.
To become more efficient in addressing non life-threatening EMS calls, South Metro Fire Rescue Authority in the suburbs of Denver is testing out a scaled-down response team and vehicle profiled this week by Kaiser Health News and NPR.
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It’s essentially a station wagon with a mini medical lab inside. Staffed by an EMT and a nurse practitioner, the mobile urgent care unit allows responders to run simple lab tests, stitch or staple wounds and prescribe some drugs on the scene, instead of having to transport people to the emergency room.
For example, a person who calls for help because he’s running a fever could be diagnosed at his home for about $500 – more expensive than a doctor’s office visit but a fraction of the cost of a trip to the emergency room.
Of course, some 911 callers do need an ambulance. Dispatchers can call up a person’s recent medical history to help make that decision, KHN and NPR report.
South Metro has been running the service for the past year and says it’s been well received. But there’s a key piece missing: It’s not covered by insurance. For now, the authority is running it through a public-private partnership without getting paid to prove that it works.
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Read more about the service here.
[Image credit: South Metro Fire Authority Facebook page]
