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Giles County EMS outlines 'Project Patient' after London ambulance study trip
Summary
Giles County Emergency Medical Service leaders described lessons from a visit to London Ambulance Service and unveiled 'Project Patient', a local tracking initiative to identify frequent-call patients and connect them with care resources to reduce repeat non‑transport visits to emergency departments.
GILES COUNTY—Giles County Emergency Medical Service officials described a weeklong study trip with other Tennessee ambulance personnel to observe the London Ambulance Service and said they are developing a local program to better coordinate care for patients who call frequently.
The county's EMS chief, Willow Chavez, told the commission that the trip—funded by state grant dollars, not county general funds—included ride‑alongs with London crews, clinical training and sessions at St. George's University. Chavez said the delegation saw systems that funnel patients directly to the resources they need, rather than defaulting to hospital transport.
Chavez framed the goal as reducing unnecessary emergency-department visits and improving patient outcomes by integrating services. "We saw how they get patients directly to the resource they need — it might be a phone call with a general practitioner, an urgent care visit, or follow‑up in the home," Chavez said.
Chavez said the EMS contingent included 31 personnel from 13 Tennessee agencies and that the trip informed local plans for community paramedicine. Training officer Dustin Blade was named in the presentation as one of those selected for the trip; Chavez said the visit emphasized alternatives to transport and showed approaches for handling patients with mental‑health crises.
From those lessons, Giles County EMS developed "Project Patient," a tracking matrix Chavez described as a way to catalogue patients who generate frequent calls, record care needs and coordinate with partner agencies. The presentation said the county has started monthly case‑review meetings with hospital nursing, case management and other stakeholders to review active cases and identify resources.
Chavez provided examples from local calls: one residence produced 26 EMS responses over a three‑day span and another about 14 responses in a month. She said many of those calls do not result in transport, and the EMS agency does not receive reimbursement for non‑transport responses. Chavez said the project aims to reduce repeated responses by matching patients to services earlier.
Chavez said initial Project Patient data is being shared with the hospital and that the hospital has agreed to participate in as‑needed monthly meetings to discuss cases. Chavez described the project as underway and said it already has produced benefits for patients, though she did not give a timetable for full implementation.
The commission did not take formal action on the presentation; Chavez presented the information for the commission's awareness and to document the project for future budget or grant considerations.
