Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Nurse Navigation 911 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Detroit Fire Department proposes nurse-navigation pilot to triage nonemergent 911 medical calls
Summary
DFD presented a nurse-navigation program to route low-priority 911 medical calls to nurses or alternative care, citing that roughly 25% of requests are nonemergent; the department aims to select a vendor in Q3, pilot in January and a soft rollout in Q1 next year.
The Detroit Fire Department presented a nurse-navigation plan on June 16 intended to reroute nonemergent medical 911 calls to nurses who can provide triage, schedule transport or connect callers to urgent care and telehealth services.
"The Detroit Fire Department sees approximately 25% of our requests are low priority," Derek Hellman, second deputy commissioner, told the Public Health and Safety Committee, explaining the program is designed to reduce strain on emergency crews and reserve ambulances for high-priority calls. Hellman described a vendor selection and implementation timeline: bid review in Q3, contracting in Q4, a pilot beginning in January and a broader rollout in spring.
Under the plan, dispatchers will prioritize calls and transfer some low-priority calls to a nurse who will assess whether urgent care, scheduled transport, telehealth or ambulance dispatch is appropriate. Hellman said some vendors include telehealth and translation services "up to 200 different languages." Council members welcomed the proposal and asked about collaboration with the health department and language access; the presenters said translation and coordination with existing city services were included in planning.
Next steps: the department will complete procurement steps, identify a vendor, report back to the committee with vendor details and return to brief council as the pilot timetable solidifies.
