Community Paramedic Practitioners are paramedics that have been trained to work in collaboration with other health care professionals and community agencies to connect patients with needed health and community services. These connections assist patients to participate in their care, maintain independence and promote involvement in their communities, while living at home.
The purpose of the Community Paramedic Program:
- Enable vulnerable, at risk individuals and older adults to live safely in their own homes.
- Reduce patient exacerbations and conditions requiring 911 response.
- Improve quality of life and well-being
- Provide patients with the right care, at the right time
- Home visits and in-home testing procedures
- Ongoing monitoring of changing or escalating conditions to prevent or reduce emergency incidents;
- Additional education about healthy living or managing things like chronic diseases
- Connections for participants and their families to home care and community supports.
Scope and Practice
The Community Paramedic has a broader scope of practice and can provide:
Assessments, which may include:
- Full vital signs- Pulse, Breathing rate, Temperature, Blood Pressure,
- Blood sugar checks
- Electrocardiogram
In addition to the above, The following can also be performed:
- Assessments, to make the home safer. ( referrals to other agencies may be required)
- Chronic Disease Management
- Medication Management(Compliance).
- Referrals to additional community resources, and programs that may be of benefit to the patient.
- Remote Patient Monitoring – For patients diagnosed with Diabetes, COPD, CHF, these patients can be monitored remotely with technology to help recognize exacerbations, and conditions. This equipment will track trends to help decrease the dependency on Emergency Services and reduce hospital admissions.
