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Detroit Fire Department outlines nurse‑navigation plan to reduce nonurgent 911 dispatches
Summary
Detroit Fire Department presented a nurse navigation program intended to route low‑priority 911 calls to nurses, telehealth or scheduled transport to reduce nonemergency ambulance responses; staff described a Q3 vendor selection, a January pilot and translation capabilities for many languages.
The Detroit Fire Department told the Public Health & Safety Committee on June 16 that it plans to add a nurse navigation system to the city's 911 dispatch to reduce nonurgent ambulance responses and better match callers to appropriate care.
"We see approximately 25% of our requests are low priority," Deputy Commissioner Derek Hellman said, noting the department handles about 150,000 911 calls a year. Under the proposal, dispatchers would transfer low‑priority medical calls to a nurse who would triage, provide telehealth or schedule transport to urgent care or a primary care provider instead of automatically sending an ambulance.
Hellman said the department is in a bid review with two vendors and expects to select a vendor in Q3, pursue contract negotiations in Q4 and start a pilot in January. He said the vendors under consideration include translation services capable of supporting up to 200 languages and telehealth connections that could route callers to physicians.
Committee members praised the proposal as a way to reduce costs and emergency‑response fatigue but asked about vendor details and capacity for non‑English speakers; Hellman said the team will return with vendor information and that the rollout will include outreach to the public and council.
What happens next: Staff said they will provide vendor details once bids are evaluated and return to committee as the department prepares for a pilot. The council indicated it will follow up on vendor qualifications and translation capacity when the department brings vendor specifics to a future meeting.
