Lexington paramedicine program details expansion, crisis-response pilot and opioid interventions

Summary

City paramedicine leaders told the Social Services and Public Safety Committee on Jan. 28 that the program plans to expand staffing, test a crisis-response unit and begin field Suboxone and broader harm-reduction services as part of efforts to reduce repeat emergency calls and link vulnerable residents to services.

On Jan. 28, 2025, the Lexington City Social Services and Public Safety Committee received an annual update on the city’s community paramedicine program from Chief Jason Wells and Lieutenant Alexander Young of the Division of Fire and Emergency Services.

The program, Lieutenant Alexander Young said, “is an innovative program that addresses the gaps in our healthcare and social services,” by expanding the traditional roles of paramedics and social workers to proactively serve people who are unhoused, elderly, high utilizers of emergency services, people with substance-use or mental-health disorders and residents with chronic illness.

City staff described a three-team model: mobile integrated health (MIH), a quick response team (QRT) for overdose follow-up, and a crisis response team. Each team is staffed with a mix of paramedics, social workers, peer specialists, an embedded police officer and crisis counseling staff. Chief Jason Wells and program members credited cross-agency partnerships — including an early practicum relationship with the University of Kentucky College of Social Work and an embedded Saint Joseph Hospital clinician who works with the program three days a week — for strengthening referral pathways.

The presenters gave account-level data and program results from 2024: the MIH team recorded…

Lexington paramedicine program details expansion, crisis-response pilot and opioid interventions

Summary

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