Street Calls paramedic unit helps reduce ‘frequent flyer’ calls

Ask any seasoned EMS worker what a ‘frequent flyer’ is and you’ll probably get rolled eyes or a groan. Fakers, nuisance calls, pains in the you-know-what – basically, people who call 911 over and over again and tie up valuable resources.

Engine 10 in Washington D.C’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services knew all about frequent flyers. Their Engine 10 is the busiest in the country, with 80% of their calls being medical in nature. And last year, 2000 of those calls came from the same 30 people.

But instead of groaning about it, a group of paramedics decided to do something about it.

A six-person unit calling themselves Street Calls decide to pay visits to these ‘frequent flyers’ to see if they could help the callers before they felt the need to call 911 again. What they found was a touching array of easily solvable problems.

One woman, who had called for help 161 times last year, had been treating her asthma by breathing from an empty inhaler for the past nine months. Another man had resorted to calling 911 every other day because Medicaid hadstopped paying for his medications. In both cases, the paramedics dealt with the medication issues, arranged social worker visits, and gave these patients a greater peace of mind. These patients no longer call 911 every day, and more importantly, are comfortable at home with the medication and support they need.

By visiting 25 people so far, the Street Calls unit has managed to reduce the 911 call volume by 60%, and saved wear and tear on the fire units. And best of all, they’ve helped vulnerable members of their community before their problems turn into emergencies.