Shared Health launches rural ’community paramedics’ program connecting patients to needed services

Paramedics in rural Manitoba are doing community outreach and connecting vulnerable patients to needed services.

Shared Health announced Tuesday it has launched two specialized units based out of Brandon and Selkirk staffed by “community paramedics” who are scheduled daily between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Program manager Loren Bacala said the nature of emergency medical services is typically episodic, and that can be a barrier to connecting patients to services and supporting continuous care.

“If, for example, paramedics show up at a home following a 911 call and the patient refuses transport (to hospital), there is no clear pathway for followup,” Bacala said in a news release.

“With a community paramedicine program in place, that patient can be referred for followup and connected to the most appropriate care for their needs.”

A spokesperson for Shared Health said the initiative is modelled after one in Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service started EPIC — Emergency Paramedics in the Community — more than a dozen years ago.

Health-care workers’ success with relationship-building and reducing repeat calls to 911 prompted an expansion of EPIC in 2019, the City of Winnipeg’s website says.

EPIC is staffed by advanced-care paramedics who travel in SUVs and provide health assessments, intervention and referrals to home care and other programs.

In a news release Tuesday, Shared Health indicated its community paramedics will not be responding to 911 calls on ambulances.

“Because of this, they have the ability to spend time with identified patients to provide more in-depth care and truly understand their needs, referring them to allied health services as appropriate,” the release said.

The program is expected to be expanded to serve other rural communities.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca