Big Sky Times

Livingston, MT- Livingston Fire and Rescue proudly announces a new proactive health and wellness initiative designed to prevent illness and injuries to vulnerable residents, reducing the need for emergency hospital visits.

The City of Livingston announced on January 1, 2023, that it will begin implementing a new Community Paramedic program in mid-February to address key health and safety needs across the community. The field of community paramedicine is a growing specialty across the U.S., designed to address health needs in a flexible way that will focus on proactive, preventative approaches to healthcare and mental health, while reducing unnecessary emergency room and 911 ambulance visits, for non-emergency medical services.  This program is the first of its kind in Montana and displays a cutting-edge service model. 

“The Community Paramedic Program will fill a serious gap in Livingston’s health and wellness environment, with a proactive focus on preventing injuries and addressing medical issues before they elevate to the need for a hospital or emergency room visit,” said Fire Chief Josh Chabalowski, during the Commission meeting in November. The City of Livingston sees this as a wise investment that will have immediate and long-term benefits for some of our most vulnerable populations, including seniors and lower-income individuals and families. It is also expected to reduce the overall 911 burden for the City and the overcrowding in the Emergency Room.  Our hope is to limit our safety forces’ need to respond to immediate calls for help by preventing illness and injuries before they become 911 calls.  This will not detract from our current mission of providing top-level, emergency fire and EMS services.  It will, however, enhance and augment our current 911 service model.

An initial focus of the program will be the implementation of preventative wellness care for routine 911 callers, experiencing non-emergency medical conditions arising from medication compliance, resource advocacy and utilization, non-crisis mental health, general preventative and wellness oversight, and recently discharged hospital patient follow-ups.  In October 2022 alone, LFR responded to over 177 calls for 911 service, of whom thirteen refused transport for non—emergent conditions, and an estimated 20 additional patients may have been properly mitigated through the Community Paramedic Program, prior to calling 911.

Livingston Fire and Rescue has partnered with MT DPHHS Community Integrated Health (CIH) Program, which is an emerging field in healthcare where EMTs, paramedics, and nurses, operate in expanded roles to connect underutilized resources with underserved populations, filling gaps in care for the community.     The Community Paramedic Program has also received support from the Livingston Health Care Hospital system (LHC), Montana Health Network, and the Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS), which provided a $144,304 grant to help with startup costs for the two-year pilot program, such as equipment and salary.  The partnership with Livingston Health Care and the CIH Program is another example of the Livingston Fire and Rescue’s focus on preventative efforts and care. "Livingston Fire and Rescue seeks to address the systems that impact the health of our community.  Through this program, we believe this will ease emergency department admissions and simultaneously increase the health and safety of our older adult residents."  Other areas of work that are being implemented for the Community Paramedic program include blood pressure /glucose screenings; medication regulatory assistance; safety checks for expectant mothers and new parents; in-home /outreach vaccinations; emergency preparedness education; and others. 

“The Community Paramedic model has been proven to have an impressive impact in other communities, and we have taken insights from others and tailored our program to fit Livingston’s unique needs,” said Livingston Fire Chief, Josh Chabablowski. “We are all excited to launch this program and believe it will make a major difference in helping with preventative care.” 

Original source can be found here.