This week, Snohomish County 911 and the Snohomish County fire districts announced the implementation of a new feature that will help free up fire district medical aid and transport assets for truly emergency medical situations. Last year Snohomish County 911 received almost 111,500 fire and emergency medical calls. Up to 17,000 of those calls were for non-emergency situations. Often, the only solution for non-emergency medical situations is to send a fire district aid vehicle or an ambulance for transport to an emergency room.
The answer is the Nurse Navigation Program. With the
Nurse Navigation Program, if a call taker determines that a medical emergency is
not life-threatening, they can forward the call to a remote team of nurses who
will make their own determination of the seriousness of the situation and will
either have an ambulance dispatched for transport to an emergency room or recommend
to the patient to go to a medical clinic, to their primary care provider, or to
schedule a telehealth visit. If needed, the nurse can help coordinate rideshare
transportation to and from an appointment, free of charge. Nurses are licensed
to practice in the State of Washington.
The program is operated in partnership with Global Medical Response of Dallas, Texas, and the Snohomish County Fire Chiefs Association. Snohomish County 911 expects to redirect 3,000 to 5,000 emergency calls to nurse navigators in 2024. Global Medical Response operates out of 29 emergency response systems in 14 states. Most systems route 3% to 5% of their calls to navigation nurses in the first year with the percentage going up to 15% for some programs after the first year.
The program will match the right care for the patient,
making the care more timely and less expensive for the patient.
During a medical situation you should call 911 when someone
is experiencing,
·
trouble breathing
·
seizures
·
fainting
·
severe injuries
·
severe allergic reaction
·
chest pain, a heart attack or cardiac
arrest
·
other severe pain or urgent medical issues
The Herald:
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/in-new-program-nurses-help-911-callers-who-dont-need-an-ambulance/
South County Fire:
https://www.southsnofire.org/Home/Components/News/News/1971/1372
Snohomish County 911:
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