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Neighborhood Paramedic Program Updates
In 2022, the Lakewood Fire Department initiated the Neighborhood Paramedic Program (NPP) to address the high frequency of fall-related calls from older adult residents to Lakewood’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Department.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that for older adults, 1 out of 5 falls causes serious injury and that falling once doubles the chances of falling again. The Lakewood Fire Department identified and trained an EMS professional in the community paramedicine response model to provide health screenings, health education, home modification, and referrals to local resources.
HLF provided funding for the pilot year of the initiative. In August 2022, the NPP fall initiative for older adults was officially launched, and now has over one year of experience and data guiding its practices and programming. Experts from University Hospitals aided the program's development and implementation.
During the pilot period (August 2022-23), it is estimated that 23% of non-fire calls to EMS were fall related (962 calls). Of these, 16% (a total of 673) were made by older adult residents (age 60+).
Initial follow-ups by mail and phone had a low response rate. The Neighborhood Paramedic, Ryan Birth, worked with Lakewood’s IT Department to create an onsite online scheduling system for follow-up appointments that EMS uses at the time of the incident.
Additionally, the program has taken a proactive approach to informing older adults of the program and how to reduce the risk of falling. Paramedic Birth provides regular blood pressure checks at the Cove Community Center during senior programming and also at the Barton Senior Center and the Lakewood YMCA. Ryan has created a Facebook page with excellent information and resources and has joined numerous collaborations in the City to integrate the NPP into a range of prevention services for older adults. A recent feature by Spectrum News provides an excellent overview of the current program.
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