Urban Community Paramedicine @ CoEMS

Posted by Patrick Lickiss on Jul 21, 2010 in Current Events, EMS 2.0, Politics, Treatment | 0 comments

In episode 8 and episode 9 of Chronicles of EMS – A Seat at the Table, our intrepid hosts sit down with two amazing members of the EMS community, Mike Taigman and Bill Sugiyama to discuss the development of a community paramedicine program in an urban environment.  Much has been written in the EMS world about community paramedicine, but the roll out of this new mechanism of patient care has been generally been focused on under-served rural populations.  As an urban paramedic, I can tell you that there are plenty of medically under-served urban populations who could use some help as well.

Taigman speaks about an asthma management program, staffed by EMTs and paramedics and developed in partnership with local hospital, public health and community leaders.  Could such a program be the first step in treating and referring or treating and releasing urban patients at home?  Very possibly.  Taigman does mention that the training involved in such a program is akin to a PA or NP program.  Any thoughts on how to manage this aspect? Would you get a Bachelor’s or Masters degree to advance your career in EMS?  Would you be willing to move off the ambulance and work in a community clinic?

The issue of reimbursement is an important one.  How is it that a doctor having a conversation with a patient about smoking cessation is any more important than a paramedic having that same conversation?  Perhaps lobbying to be able to bill for such services as part of healthcare reform would be a place to start…anyone listening on Capitol Hill?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and I’m sure the CoEMS crew would love to hear them as well, so be sure to register over at the forum and get directly involved in EMS 2.0!