A new program to be implemented by a city fire rescue department is helping to fill in some of the gaps where home care is currently not present. 

The initiative, to be launched in Dallas as a pilot of the Mobile Community Healthcare Program, is aimed at reducing the number of emergencies that take place in high-risk homes, according to the Dallas Morning News. Under the program, Dallas Fire-Rescue will work with local hospitals to identify which patients need ongoing care and which others abuse the 911 system with frequent calls. 

In an effort to prevent hospital readmissions, paramedics employed by the city will then provide check ups in the homes of patients who have been identified as frequent users of the 911 system, according to the report. 

“It’s certainly more engagement as opposed to now where we just pick you up on an emergency, drop you at the hospital, and basically you’re done,” Fire Chief Louie Bright told the Dallas Morning News.

The program has been granted $645,000 in funding and will launch as a pilot with four paramedics and one lieutenant. The program aims to work in three ways: by providing health services, education and also general social services, such as identifying whether a home is in need of repair. 

The program has already identified more than 250 people in its jurisdiction who used the EMS system more than 12 times last year; the number of calls overall has been increasing at a faster pace than the population increase. 

Read the Dallas Morning News report.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker