Miami Township, Ohio – This story is re-plublished here and first published in Miami Township’s “Inside Miami Township” Winter 2020 newsletter.
by Steve Kelly, Fire & EMS Chief
Miami Township Fire & EMS officially launched their new Community Paramedicine Program in August. This program provides a proactive approach to healthcare and offers a higher level of service to our community that supports our existing 911 services.
The purpose of this article is to educate and help answer the following questions:
• What is Community Paramedicine?
• What local organizations are involved with this new program, and how is the Community Paramedicine program funded?
• What were the steps involved to get us here?
• Most importantly, how is this new program benefiting the residents of Miami Township?
Community Paramedicine is a relatively new healthcare concept which gained traction around 2014 after the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The goal of community paramedicine is to fill gaps in local healthcare services, reduce hospital admissions, and un-needed emergency department usage. This is accomplished by identifying the particular needs of a community and developing ways to meet those needs.
The means to fulfill these needs may vary in different areas. The community paramedic’s roles are based on community needs assessments conducted for each jurisdiction and are unique to the citizens of that community.
Miami Township’s needs assessment revealed sixty percent of our EMS calls for service involve older adults over the age of 65. A majority of these emergencies are related to falls, respiratory distress, heart conditions, and various other medical aliments. It is no secret that as we age, the need for healthcare significantly increases, and our healthcare systems are being significantly impacted.
Another major element is the increasing numbers of baby boomers retiring and needing healthcare.
There is also a need for mental health and substance abuse disorders, which are addressed through the MiamiTownship Community Paramedicine program as well as an addiction response team that works jointly with the Clermont County Recovery Center.
Traditionally, the primary focus of EMS has been to assess and treat the acute medical and trauma patient and then transport to an emergency department where the patient could receive advanced definitive care. While essential, and a first line action, this is a reactive approach to emergency healthcare whereas community paramedicine is a proactive and preventative approach.
Locally, Miami Township has partnered with Mercy Health Anderson Hospital and Tri-Health Bethesda North Hospital. Both of these excellent hospitals are constantly seeking new ways of connecting and delivering better healthcare to the Southwest Ohio region in coordination with the Ohio Healthcare Initiative 2020. To that end, through a mutual desire to deliver an additional layer of customer service and fill healthcare gaps, a collaboration formed between our organizations. By creating the Community Paramedicine Pilot Program as a team, we established goals and objectives that would directly benefit the health and wellbeing of Miami Township’s residents.
The Community Paramedic position and pilot program is funded through multiple sources. Primarily, it is funded through our fire department operating budget and is supplemented from both the Mercy Health Foundation and the Berning Foundation through Tri- health Hospital. Both of these generous community- minded healthcare foundations reimburse Miami Township Fire & EMS based on the amount of time our Community Paramedic spends working on behalf of each hospital system. The journey to get to this point involved many hours of planning, education, and collaborative meetings with each hospital system.
Lt. Jim Petry started investigating how a community paramedic program would work in Miami Township and its potential to bring a higher level of customer service to our residents with varying healthcare needs.
In 2015, he attended multiple seminars, completed trainings through the International Fire Fighters Association, and in 2016 he completed a sixteen credit-hour Community Paramedic certification through Hennepin Community College. Throughout 2017, he completed the required 180 hours of clinical time working with Miami Township residents, and through shadowing nurses at Bethesda North in various specialty departments. During those encounters and at every opportunity, he presented this concept to everyone in the local hospitals and healthcare systems to lay a foundation for future success.
Like any important new concept, especially in the healthcare field, it took time to build the necessary relationships and partnerships throughout our area. Throughout 2018 and most of 2019, Chief Kelly and Lt. Petry met multiple times with administrative leaders in the Mercy and Tri-Health hospital systems. Many hours were spent reviewing protocols and discussing proposed contract language. Entering into 2020, all the planning, preparation, education, meetings, and valuable relationship building came to fruition, along with the full support of our Miami Township Trustees and the Community Paramedicine position began in a limited capacity.
Throughout the trial period of the pilot program, it became evident very quickly that this program was able to have a direct impact on our residents and was a valuable asset to improving the provision of healthcare programs across Miami Township. In August of 2020, Lt. Petry was assigned to this new program in a full-time capacity to be able to dedicate the required time and effort to continue to make it a success.
The Community Paramedic position brings an additional level of customer service which cannot be done through our regular shift firefighter/paramedics. They do a spectacular job of rendering professional medical care, showing heartfelt compassion at the time of a medical or fire related emergency, but due to our increasing volume of calls for service, they must quickly prepare for the next emergency. This new positon allows the Community Paramedic to spend quality time listening, evaluating, and advocating for the residents he encounters through our referral system.
The Community Paramedic conducts fall prevention evaluations and education, home safety assessments, medication education, and communicates directly with the resident’s primary care physician if needed, all in the privacy and convenience of their own home.
Through the trusted relationship with their associated hospital system, Mercy or Tri-Health, the Community Paramedic acts as an agent to connect them with the appropriate medical services.
When needed, they utilize and engage other available community resources like the Miami Township Police Department, Clermont Senior Services, the Council on Aging (COA), and any other organization who can assist with their needs.
The overarching goal of the Miami Township Community Paramedicine Program is to provide the best healthcare service and customer service possible through utilization of any available resource to meet the various needs of our residents.
If you would like to request a visit from our Community Paramedic or have questions about the program, please give us a call at 513-248-3700.
