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Detroit Fire Department proposes nurse-navigation pilot for 9-1-1 to reduce nonemergency ambulance responses
Summary
The Detroit Fire Department presented a nurse-navigation model to triage low-priority 9-1-1 calls to nurses for telehealth, urgent care scheduling or scheduled transport, aiming to reduce nonemergent ambulance dispatches. The department estimated about 150,000 calls a year with roughly 25% triageable as nonemergent.
Deputy Commissioner Derek Hellman told the City Council’s Public Health and Safety committee the Detroit Fire Department plans a nurse-navigation model to take some low-priority 9-1-1 calls away from emergency crews and direct callers to appropriate care.
"911 is the best implemented governmental service that has ever been created...the Detroit Fire Department sees approximately 25% of our requests are low priority," Hellman said, describing roughly 150,000 annual calls of which a quarter are nonemergent and strain resources.
Under the proposal, police-operated dispatchers would triage calls and transfer low-priority requests to a nurse who would assess whether the caller needs immediate emergency response or could be helped with telehealth, an urgent-care appointment, scheduled transport or other nonemergency supports. Hellman said the program is already used in other jurisdictions and is intended to cut costs and reduce fatigue among crews so ambulances are available for higher-priority calls.
Hellman described a phased roll-out: a vendor selection during a Q3 bid review, contract work in Q4, a pilot beginning in January and a potential full rollout by the second quarter after evaluation. He said one of the vendors offers phone-based translation for up to 200 languages.
Council members asked about language access and coordination with existing city health-transportation services. Hellman said translation and telehealth components are part of vendor offerings and that the department plans public outreach before and during the pilot.
What's next: the department is in vendor review; council members said they would return questions once the bidders and contract terms are known and will invite the fire department back to the committee when the pilot is ready to begin.
