City To Focus On Chronic 911 Medical Callers

Faced with the closure of two hospitals and an ever-increasing workload at other emergency rooms, the city and county of Honolulu (Hi.) has kicked off a program to sharply focus on the top 50 chronic 911 callers reporting medical complaints. Instead of sending a full fire and EMS response to chronic callers, the top 50 callers will be visited once a week by the Community Paramedic Project, who will treat minor problems, transport for major problems, but more importantly refer them to other agencies to solve their core issues. According to research of 911 records, the top 50 callers generated 1,200 telephone calls in the first nine months of 2012, or almost 25 each on average. Most have chronic medical issues, but over a third have mental illness and 22% have substance abuse issues. Officials hope to reduce the 911 calls and responses by 50 percent when the program is fully operational. The program will cost about $150,000 a year, far less than the estimated $2.6 million spent on emergency medical responses to the top 50 callers.