Frequent 911 callers increased despite success in a program designed to curb it

The Vulnerable Patient Navigator program (VPN) was launched in August 2016 to curb the number of frequent 911 callers, and though there was been success among patients enrolled in the program — overall, the number of callers has actually gone up.

The program was launched two years ago when it was found that some people were calling 911 too often for low-priority emergencies. Those individuals are connected with a paramedic who helps them navigate the health care system to determine which services they may need.

Since then, 344 patients have enrolled in the program and at two apartment buildings identified as "high-use," call volumes are down 40 per cent, according to the County of Essex. 

And yet, as a whole, the number of frequent 911 callers has increased, the county explained.

"As the retirement population grows and as people get older, there's a bit of education we have to do on our part to make sure people are utilizing the right resources," said Justin Lammers, deputy chief of professional standards division at the Essex-Windsor EMS.

A total of 643 people have been identified as frequent callers, or people who call 911 three or more times a year for low-priority emergencies. These could be calls for things that might be symptoms of a chronic illness, Lammers explained.

"We usually see they're not connected to the health care system. Maybe they need some education on their chronic diseases and health care management in general," he said.

Managing chronic illnesses

He gave an example of someone with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, where they may frequently experience shortness of breath but have trouble managing it.

Once they're enrolled in VPN, there's a home visit and a needs assessment done to determine how a person can be equipped to better manage some of those problems they experience.

"It's a maintenance, it's an ongoing connection for the patient," said Lammers. "And once we get their call volumes down, we move onto the next patient."

In a news release sent Thursday, the county said that one patient's call volume reportedly went from 24 calls per quarter to two calls. And the Community Paramedicine Remote Patient Monitoring Program is credited with a 41 per cent reduction in calls.

Essex-Windsor EMS chief Bruce Krauter said in the release that the program is providing care for those who need it while reducing "the burden on the regional health care system as a whole."

Increase in callers show need

Even though the overall number of frequent callers hasn't gone down, Lammers thinks the current results are a sign that VPN is a needed program.

"So when we look at the numbers going up, it's justifying the fact that we need to be out there, we need to be preventing these 911 calls," he said.

VPN does regular outreach events. Currently there are four full-time primary care paramedics who work 12-hour shifts across seven days a week.