A provincially funded pilot project aims to reduce the number of times that ambulances attend a pair of local long-term care facilities by expanding the roll of the Middlesex London Paramedic Service’s (MLPS) community paramedics.
Community Paramedics provide non-emergency primary medical care at a patient’s home.
The new Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care Plus (CPLTC+) program allows community paramedics to deliver diagnostic testing to residents of Strathmere Lodge (Strathroy) and Dearness Home (London), including urinalysis, Chem-8 blood tests, and ultrasound.
“We’re going to take those skills and apply them in a long-term care setting, providing benefit to the long-term care residents and preventing the transportation to hospitals,” explained Dan Griffiths, MLPS Commander of Community Medicine and Education.
The pilot project will reduce the number of LTC residents being transported to hospital by ambulance for routine medical tests, a process that can be extremely stressful for elderly and vulnerable patients.
It …