https://directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov/whats-community-paramedicine/

Community paramedicine is a paradigm shift for the use of paramedics in the US.  It’s an emerging model in which paramedics function outside their usual emergency response & transport roles- delving into the world of primary care.  As the health care world increasingly shifts toward prevention and well care- the system will increasingly demand more folks that can function in a community health (primary care and prevention) role.  Community paramedicine is increasingly being recognized as a promising solution to efficiently increase access to care (especially for underserved populations). 

For example- paramedics could shift from a sole focus on emergency response to things like: 1) providing follow-up care for folks recently discharged from the hospital to prevent unnecessary readmissions; 2) providing community-based support for people with diabetes, asthma, congestive heart failure, or multiple chronic conditions; and/or 3) partnering with community health workers and primary care providers in underserved areas to provide preventive care. 

The UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement released a new report this week called ”Community Paramedicine: A Promising Model for Integrating Emergency and Primary Care”.  The report is the one I know about that explores this new and evolving model of healthcare.  The report concludes that expanding the role of paramedics is a promising solution to efficiently increasing access to care, particularly for underserved populations…  and it recommends the development of pilot projects to further refine and evaluate the role of community paramedicine. 

One Valley fire department is exploring its own concept – the Mesa Fire and Medical Department is using a grant from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to staff mental health and nurse practitioners according to the Arizona Republic last weekend. 

I’ve asked Dr. Bobrow and Terry Mullins to open up dialogue about community paramedicine in Arizona and how it could improve outcomes in a measurable way- and to examine the current scope of practice for EMTs and Paramedics relative to the practice of community paramedicine.  We’ll be asking for interested volunteers from our EMS Council to lead a workgroup of individuals to begin answering the Who, What, Where, When and Why of community paramedicine in Arizona.  Stay tuned.

I submitted a comment and requested more info, but it never got posted ...

I've wasted literally hundreds of hours on this dysfunctional fire district while I SHOULD have been researching our only viable option to actually DO something for our residents.

I could NOT care less about fires. 

It's NOT about saving lives, it's about containment.  Camille died literally just minutes from the Meadview fire station in 3/16:

https://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2016/03/18/camille-mcdowell-perished-in-deadly-meadview-mobile-home-fire/

I can't even remember any fire in Meadview since March 2016. Attended just about every LMRFD board meeting and do not recall any mention of a fire in Meadview.

The about 1/3 of the properties in Meadview in the fire district are so wasting their money.  At best we have ONE guy in Meadview who can not transport a patient by himself.

Even if Meadview didn't pay one dime to LMRFD, the ambulance would STILL come up here, just like they drive all the way to Hoover Dam to assist.

It's a reasonable conclusion that Meadview residents DIED because it takes at least an hour for an ambulance to come up from Dolan Springs.

Not to mention that even more people died because they are afraid to call 9/11 and/or refuse transport because they are POOR and can't even afford the $300 cab ride back home from Kingman and the ambulance bill would bankrupt them.

We need a completely different organization with emphasis on medical care

• We need LOCAL medical care for our seniors and that MUST include home visits.
  
  HUGE savings for insurance as it costs so much less to provide care at home than in a hospital or nursing home.
• We need an organization that cares enough to create a pool of volunteers for tasks such as driving patients around. 
  For example:

  AHCCCS already pays anyone with a drivers license and insurance 20 cents/mile to drive patients, but they need "pre-approval" from the insurer and it's not very efficient.  I think 50 cents/mile is more realistic (about $50 for a round trip to Kingman) and EVERY insurance should pay that, especially for low income people.

• We need volunteers to look after home bound patients.
  
  It doesn't take ANY skills to drive to someone's house, bring some real food and check up on a patient, make sure they're doing ok, taking their meds, eating right ...

WIN - WIN -- for the residents and insurers.

There are no losers, other than possibly LMRFD.  The idiots who are too damned STUPID to get agenda and minutes out in a timely and professional manner, with a fire chief who is determined to employ the world's most incompetent "administrative assistant", does whatever he wants, does NOT provide statistics and is too stupid to put together a spreadsheet with the monthly calls.

It's UNREAL. 

Board member Charlotte Kiffer tries so hard.  She demanded that the minutes be posted in a timely matter so many times.  But it's going NOWHERE.  The chief is the chief and does whatever he wants.

Now that I think about it, I really want NOTHING to do with ANY fire district. 

AZ laws allow fire districts to operate any way they like and we hardly ever have a board meeting without executive (secret) session.

I am so fed up with their BS, we need a non profit that operates transparent, treats the residents with respect and hopefully the residents will in turn support it.

We don't need a "chief" who runs the organization however he wants, but a board that makes the decisions.

That is what I'll support.