June 5, 2013
LETHBRIDGE – Local residents receiving home care services will soon have access to a new Alberta Health Services (AHS) program that will deliver additional care where they live.
The Community Paramedic Program adds a specially trained paramedic to the local home care team. This community paramedic is able to perform some assessments, diagnostics and treatments in the client’s home or continuing care facility that would otherwise need to be done in an AHS facility.
These services include using an electrocardiogram to measure electrical activity in the heart; monitoring vital signs; collecting laboratory specimens; administering medications; treating wounds; catheterization; and rehydration therapy.
“The community paramedic will be a key member of the health care team and will certainly enhance the services we offer our home care clients,” says Colin Zieber, Executive Director of Seniors Health for AHS South Zone. “Home care clients will be able to remain in their homes longer, and make fewer trips to hospital.”
There are about 2,000 home care clients in the Lethbridge area.
Deb Branden, the community paramedic, has worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and paramedic for the past 10 years. Over the last two months, she has received additional training to better understand the needs of home care clients. She will travel with a home care nurse starting next month and is expected to assist between 30 and 40 home care clients weekly.
“The Community Paramedic Program makes excellent use of our resources in the South Zone for the benefit of our home care clients and their families,” says Branden.
“For instance, before the program, a home care client who requires blood to be drawn would likely need to be transported to a laboratory and, in some cases, that would mean leaving their community. Now we can collect that specimen right where they live, which is good for the client, and it also leaves room in our labs. The programs should also ease pressures on our diagnostic imaging units and emergency departments.”
The Community Paramedic Program launched in Calgary last fall.
Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.8 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
- 30 -
