At least eight people were killed in highway crashes across North Texas Thursday morning, including one involving roughly 100 vehicles in Fort Worth that killed.
The Williamson County (Tex.) EMS Community Health Paramedic (CHP) program was established in 2014 under a federal grant to address high utilization and hospital readmission reduction. A team of four seasoned paramedics moved from EMS to CHP with very little knowledge of where their new journey would lead. Ultimately we addressed readmission reduction with two hospitals, participated in a post-coronary bypass follow-up program with a local cardiology group, and addressed the increased use of EMS by multiple patients in the county.
Our team completed the grant project in 2017. In 2018 we were downsized to just three members. Despite the decrease in staffing, we continued to address high use by way of referrals from our 9-1-1 field crews. A big key to our success has been hard-earned experience: The average tenure of our current staff is 20 years, which contributes to our ability to provide high-quality care to our patients. We find tenured providers can look at the big picture, addr