What is Community Paramedicine (CP)?
Community Paramedicine is a unique branch of Paramedic Services that involves additional collaboration with community stakeholders (such as the hospitals, Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics, community agencies, and District programs) to improve access to primary healthcare, reduce non-urgent 911 calls, and provide preventative healthcare and education to patients. Existing Primary Care Paramedics and specially-trained Community Paramedics participate in various aspect of this program. The Muskoka Paramedic Services Community Paramedicine (CP) program has three branches; Community Referral by EMS (CREMS), Wellness Clinics, and Home Visits.
| Community Referral by EMS (CREMS) |
| CREMS referrals allow all Muskoka paramedics to refer 911 patients to Muskoka Health Link if, during their assessment, they note their patient may benefit from additional community supports. |
| Wellness Clinics |
| Wellness Clinics will focus on education, disease prevention, assessments, and linking patients to community resources. These are held at various locations throughout Muskoka. Wellness Clinics are co-hosted by CPs and may involve presentations, mini-assessments, and community resource referrals. |
| Home visits |
| Home visits will allow patients to access primary healthcare through CP’s. Services may include blood work draws/analysis, specialized assessments/treatments, and wellness checks. Home Visits are conducted by CPs who received extensive training and hold an advanced certificate in Community Paramedicine. |
Background on Community Paramedicine Program
In 2017 MPS applied for funding through The North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (NSM LHIN) and was granted $64,000 to create and operate the program for 2018, leaving no impact on Paramedic operations or the current tax supported budget.
While designing and training staff for the program, MPS began Phase 1 by rolling out the Community Referrals by Emergency Medical Services (CREMS) program in July of 2017. Since then, many patients have been referred to The District of Muskoka’s Health Link agency, with many receiving coordinated care plans, linking them with various community services. The referral program allows front line Paramedics to identify patients that might benefit from support services, while performing their regular duties.
As the program evolved to Phase 2, 6 active Paramedics were recruited from existing MPS staff, and received specialized training to conduct wellness clinics. Some of the Community Paramedics (CP) were trained to offer an expanded scope of care during the home visits part of the program, Phase 3, which went live in early 2019.