It seemed odd to the paramedics assigned to the rig that rolls out of Engine 36 on Milwaukee\u2019s northside: For one week straight, they\u2019d been responding to daily 6:45 a.m. calls from the same address.<\/p>\n
Capt. Michael Wright, who was assigned to Engine 36\u2019s paramedic unit at the time, decided to look into it. The patient, a woman in her 70s, had diabetes. Her husband thought he was following doctor\u2019s orders by giving his wife insulin first thing every morning. But it resulted in a massive blood sugar drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn\u2019t need the insulin every morning,\u201d said Wright, now coordinator for the Milwaukee Fire Department\u2019s community paramedic program. \u201cShe just needed breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every day, paramedics across the country speed out of fire houses, red lights flashing and sirens blaring, to address medical problems that are not \u2013 or should not be \u2013 true emergencies. It\u2019s health care at its costliest.<\/p>\n
Looking for a solution, Wright and other emergency responders turned to the UWM College of Nursing for help in developing Wisconsin\u2019s first training program to teach paramedics to address patients\u2019 needs before their problems become true emergencies. As the college celebrates its 50th anniversary, this program \u2013 done in collaboration with the Milwaukee Fire Department, Milwaukee County Emergency Medical Services and the Medical College of Wisconsin \u2013 is just the latest of many partnerships designed to teach students and address the city\u2019s medical needs.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 25, families, friends and fire chiefs gathered at UWM to watch paramedics from Milwaukee, West Allis, North Shore, Greenfield and Madison become the first graduating class in the Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program, receiving their certificates from Kim Litwack, associate dean of the College of Nursing.<\/p>\n
The paramedics who volunteered for the program began training in April. Along with online courses, they completed 40 hours of laboratory work at the College of Nursing and did additional clinical work at six locations in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
The need for the paramedic partnership is great. In Milwaukee, just 100 people placed almost 7 percent of the 62,663 emergency medical calls placed in 2014. Paramedics trained in the Community Paramedic Curriculum will not only teach their patients self-care, but will connect them with existing services to prevent future emergencies.<\/p>\n
Sally Lundeen, dean of the College of Nursing, emphasized that the project is in concert with the Wisconsin Idea, the University of Wisconsin System mission statement that emphasizes the universities\u2019 connection to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are on the ground in areas of Milwaukee that have high health care needs and are addressing care coordination, health promotion and prevention,\u201d said Lundeen, who has nearly 40 years\u2019 experience establishing community-based health care programs in Milwaukee and Chicago.<\/p>\n
The first graduating class of paramedics completed instruction on delivering health care in the community and managing chronic illnesses. Topics covered included asthma and infant mortality, two major health problems in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
For phase two, 22 local medics will be trained to go into the homes of participating 911 callers, visiting each patient four times over three months to complete home assessments, provide education and connect the patients with services that meet their needs. They will also reach out to the homeless population.<\/p>\n
Milwaukee firefighter and paramedic Andrew Hargarten is taking a double-duty approach to his education. The College of Nursing Class of 2010 graduate just received his certificate from the paramedic training program and is enrolled in UWM\u2019s doctorate of nursing practice program.<\/p>\n
He explained that similar programs elsewhere have proved to be cost effective with better medical outcomes. \u201cFort Worth, Texas, has extensive data. Among other things, they significantly reduced the readmission of patients. With the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are penalized if a patient is readmitted within 30 days, so it saved the hospitals money. The number of paramedic runs went way down, and that saved money for the taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim Litwack, who is leading the program, said that while paramedics are well trained to provide \u201cred light\u201d emergency care, they aren\u2019t trained to address less urgent calls from \u201cyellow light\u201d or \u201cgreen light\u201d patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn asthmatic patient who has run out of needed medication would be a \u2018yellow light\u2019 call,\u201d she said. \u201cThe patient needs to be evaluated to determine why they\u2019ve run out of their medication so he or she doesn\u2019t become a \u2018red light\u2019 patient requiring emergency transport. The partnership with the College of Nursing, with an emphasis on health<\/p>\n
promotion, assessment and education, is a natural fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite success in training its first cohort of community-based paramedics, the program is still in its early days, said Lundeen. Ongoing funding is needed for the curriculum\/training to reach its full potential as a cost and lifesaver across southeastern Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have coordination to make sure that not only are we providing the services, but that we are not duplicating what others are doing. We need to figure out how to sustain these new models,\u201d Lundeen said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good investment, and funding the program is a good decision.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the UWM College of Nursing celebrates its 50th anniversary, a new community paramedics training program is just the latest of many partnerships designed to teach students and address the city\u2019s medical needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":486,"featured_media":21820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[],"section":[135],"display_categories":[115],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[343,163],"class_list":["post-21818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","section-health","display_categories-top-story-secondary","uwmnews-feed-health-professions-sciences","uwmnews-feed-nursing"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"\n