Community Paramedic Benefits

A visit to the emergency department (ED) is usually associated with negative thoughts by most people. It creates preconceived images of overcrowded waiting rooms and routine long waits for treatment (Jarousse, 2011). From 1996 to 2006, ED visits increased annually from 90.3 million to 119.2 million (32% increase). During this same time period, the number of EDs has declined by 186 facilities creating the age old lower supply and greater demand concept (Crane & Noon, 2011). There are many contributing factors that have led to an increase in ED visits. A few of these key drivers include lack of primary care access, rising of the uninsured population, dwindling mental health services, and the growing elderly

Paramedics are emergency medical technicians more commonly known as EMT’s. EMT’s provide emergency treatment for the ill or injured on a scene and during en route to a medical facility. EMT’s are called upon at all hours of the day or night; typically the first medical specialist that a patient will call upon in an emergency. Paramedics are trained to provide lifesaving pre-hospital care in emergency situations. The range of medical services varies according to the level of training and/or certification.

EMTs are such an essential part of society nowadays. In my opinion, this is one of the most important jobs out there. For just a moment, imagine that you are driving down the road on a rainy night and lose control of your car. You go flying off the road and into a tree on the side of the road. Everything goes fuzzy and all you can see are flashes of reality. You fade in and out, hearing sirens and seeing lights, but you have no control of your body. The next thing you know, you wake up inside of a small room, freaking out because you have no idea what has just happened. Eventually you realize that the small room you are in is the back of an ambulance, and you are being taken

When focusing on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Systems strategies for improvement with unnecessary emergency room visits, a major key area is accessibility to health care at the appropriate health care setting. For many years, there has been the perception that the emergency department is the only place for someone who is uninsured or underinsured can go to receive the needed and appropriate health care, and in some situations that may be the case. (Rhodes et al, 2013, p.394) Due to the decreases in reimbursements for the publicly funded, more and more physicians are opting out to treating these patients, thus leading to an increase in emergency department utilization. According to a study conducted by Rhodes, Bisgaier, Lawson, Soglen, Krug, and Haitsma, this is becoming a greater concern for the

14 million Canadians visit Emergency Departments (ED) every year, and also reported to having the highest use of EDs (Ontario Hospital Association, 2006). ED overcrowding in Canada has become an epidemic. ED overcrowding has been defined as “a situation in which the demand for emergency services exceeds the ability of an (emergency) department to provide quality care within acceptable time frames” (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, 2014). This has been an ongoing problem across Canada. Ontario has developed an initiative to reduce ED wait times by implementing a variety of strategies and collaborating with other institutions. This paper describes the Emergency Room National Ambulatory Intuitive (ERNI), an

Becoming and EMT or paramedic is a very stressful and demanding career. It is also a depressing job dealing with sick people every day. However, the job is extremely rewarding and gratifying to know that you helped assist in saving a person’s

In many cities emergency service personnel had their pay cut, overtime eliminated, and benefits slashed. This not only affects the moral of said workers but may drive away future applicants to find better pay elsewhere. This can cause many problems in the future as they will have a difficult time to hire new employees. It could also cause current employees to leave their departments for better pay causing more man power issues. “The national average wage was $34,370 in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Mercer 2).” One of the major problems is that there is no federal funding for emergency medicine. The lack of funding for these emergency medicine personnel is a major concern leading to a haphazard development of this service. “Even the number of EMTs and paramedics is uncertain (Mercer 11).” Many believe that if you stabilize the budget issues then the profession would possibly become one of the fastest growing in the

Paramedics have very important jobs. They are one of the first to respond to 911 calls. They evaluate the patient’s state and provide the necessary treatment. Paramedics

Lakeland Regional Health was number one in America for the most Emergency Room visits March 2015-2016, even so they re-direct on average 260 uninsured and Medicaid patients a month to their Family Health Clinic for non-emergent care. The Affordable Care Act, though providing insurance benefits to many who could not afford insurance in the past, has not changed the quantity of patients utilizing the emergency room for primary care mostly due to the overwhelming need for more clinics that accept Medicaid, Share of Cost, and the uninsured.(2) Patients have often commented that it is cheaper to pay the penalty on their taxes each year over applying for the ACA insurance. The deductible and out-of-pocket for the insurance generally matches but the limits are often well above what the patient can afford to pay, and insurance does not pay until they have met that deductible amount. The question is not about providing care to the patients that arrive in the emergency room, but to offer a screening process to ensure that the emergency room is available for true emergencies, and that the safety of patients are considered and the delay of care is as short as possible.

A profession that is jam packed with adrenaline is that of a paramedic. Medical emergencies, accidents, fires, and others are normal cases for these every day heroes. Paramedics are categorized as a part of the health care team. They are well-trained when it comes to tasks like administering oxygen, drugs, responding to life threatening situations and even advanced medical procedure to save the lives of millions of people. They are also among those who respond to health and wellness monitoring systems.

Emergency medical technicians are licensed and/or certified health-care providers that are out-of-hospital. They immediately respond to the scene of an emergency, assess the safety hazards of the scene, and transport patients to institutions. (Beck, 2013) An emergency medical technician-paramedic takes on the additional tasks of giving medication and using various complex equipment. The competence and hasty reactions of EMTs can save the lives of patients and get them to the emergency room physician. Although education differs state to state, every emergency medical technician-paramedic must receive a high school diploma or GED and become certified for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). (“Emts and paramedics,” 2014) They must also

“Long wait times could potentially result in worse patient outcomes, greater patient suffering, patient dissatisfaction, more difficulty retaining and recruiting staff, a higher risk of infectious disease outbreaks and an increased risk of medical errors” (Ducharme, Alder, Pelletier, Murray, & Tepper, p. 456). This article explored how the addition of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 6 Ontario emergency departments could help to reduce wait time, patient flow, and the number of patients who left without being seen (Ducharme, Alder, Pelletier, Murray, & Tepper, p. 455). This study was seen to be the first of its kind in analyzing effects in an emergency department on patient flow by adding nurse practitioners and physician assistants to the healthcare team (Ducharme, Alder, Pelletier, Murray, & Tepper, p. 459). The quantitative study design used for this study was the experimental design since it was based on implementation and evaluation of the effects (Keele, p. 41). The article does not address how the sample size was determined and actually

Thus, emergency physicians cannot rely on earned trust or on prior knowledge of the patient's condition, values, or wishes regarding medical treatment. The patient's willingness to seek emergency care and to trust the physician is based on institutional and professional assurances rather than on an established personal relationship. Fourth, emergency physicians practice in an institutional setting, the hospital emergency department, and in close working relationships with other physicians, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and other health care professionals. Thus, emergency physicians must understand and respect institutional regulations and inter-professional norms of conduct. Fifth, in the United States, emergency physicians have been given a unique social role and responsibility to act as health care providers of last resort for many patients who have no other feasible access to care. Sixth, emergency physicians have a societal duty to render emergency aid outside their normal health care setting when such intervention may save life or limb. Finally, by virtue of their broad expertise and training, emergency physicians are expected to be a resource for the community in pre-hospital care, disaster management, toxicology, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, public health, injury control, and related areas. All of these special circumstances shape the

　　　Paramedics are experienced medical practitioners, who carry out roles done by physicians and also observe, asses and treat patients using the equipment found in the emergency department. During an emergency, the paramedics are the first health care professionals that are contacted and they then asses the patient’s condition and treat if possible. When Edith’s husband, Roland, called for emergency, the ambulance arrived

The emergency room has become the new primary care facility for the millions of uninsured in the United States. Thanks to an “unfunded mandate passed into law in 1986,” hospitals that participate in the Medicare program must “screen and treat anyone with an emergency medical condition” (Stephens & Ledlow, 2010). This unfortunately leads to emergency rooms full of people who may have something as simple as a sinus infection which then makes it really difficult for someone with a real emergency that did not require ambulatory transport to be seen in a timely manner. Another unfortunate result of this is that “over 1,100 emergency departments closed over the past decade” (Stephens & Ledlow, 2010).