Sam Benson
Jul 10, 2017 · 1 min read

Excellent, thought provoking article.
Two observations:
First, their is an implied assumption that EMS is only for critical patients and “ non-critical patients” are an improper load on the system. I think we need to drill-down a bit on this. There are patients who aren’t critical but need care and transport, e.g. a broken leg. There may be other patients we could define as critical but don’t need transport, e.g. CHF for whom a consult and adjusting their lasix dose may be all they need (alluding to the Community Paramedicine models out there now).
Second is the recommendation “solutions to our EMS problem will be found locally, in a small experiment that produces positive results implemented by bold leaders who care about their community.”
On a national level, it is very hard to get momentum on any EMS initiative because the local experiments of the 1970s led to a melange of different EMS models that operate under different incentives. What works for FD-EMS may not work for FD First Response with Commercial Transport, may not work for Hospital Based, may not work for Third Service, etc., etc..

    Sam Benson

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