SAFD launches pilot program to cut emergency service expenditures
Sept. 10--A tiny proportion of the city's population -- 286 residents -- places more than 4,000 calls annually to the 911 emergency line, resulting in some 2,400 EMS transports to local hospitals.
Those callers, a large portion of whom are elderly, cost San Antonio about $1.8 million annually.
The 286 residents repeatedly dialing 911 often don't need emergency services, Fire Chief Charles Hood told the City Council on Tuesday. And he's got a plan to drastically reduce those numbers over the next six months.
"What we want to do is increase the quality of care for the citizens -- and that's the plan," Hood said.
The Fire Department will start the Mobile Integrated Health pilot program Oct. 1, the beginning of fiscal year 2015, with goals of decreasing those repeat calls by 85 percent and decreasing hospital readmittance.
Hood said he conservatively estimates the pilot program will eliminate 3,000 of the 4,000 annual calls.
"That will improve our response time by 1.3 seconds because I'm keeping resources available," he said.
In the 2013 calendar year, the Fire Department received 167,870 calls to 911, resulting in 68,354 hospital transports.
Under the pilot program, five paramedics will work with the 286 callers the Fire Department has identified.
They'll go "start knocking on doors," Hood said, helping to navigate those residents through the health care system.
The paramedics will perform wellness checks, administer medicine, offer health education and ensure nutritional needs are being met, city documents show.
Hood said he and his staff have worked with the city's major hospitals to ensure the program is implemented smoothly.
Hood's proposal was well-received by council members, who applauded him for developing a plan to improve the quality of life for those residents who don't have strong support networks.
But in a preemptive media advisory, San Antonio Fire Fighters Association President Chris Steele lambasted Hood for the proposal. The release's headline read: "CHARLES HOOD STEPS DOWN AS FIRE CHIEF, AND GOES TO WORK FOR THE HOSPITALS IN SAN ANTONIO."
Steele said in an afternoon interview that he was unaware of the headline and would have to check with its author. But he said he's none too pleased with Hood's proposal.
Steele said he doesn't want to discourage anyone from calling 911 and is afraid some of the chronic callers might second-guess themselves, not call for help and then die in their sleep.
"The job of public safety is to encourage, not discourage, citizens from accessing the 911 system and calling us for help rapidly and for anything they see fit," Steele said in the media advisory.
Hood plans to fund the pilot program by redirecting $500,000 from the city's peak-period program, which puts additional EMS units on duty during a 12-hour period of peak calls.
A city news release responding to the union's morning advisory said Hood "has no plans to step down" and called its characterization of the pilot program a "blatant misrepresentation."
jbaugh@express-news.net
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