2021 ANNUAL REPORT

45

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Emergency Medical Services Office (continued)

Mobile Community Healthcare

The Mobile Community Healthcare (MCH) Program is an integrated, collaborative effort to provide resources to the residents of Frederick County through several specialty programs, including Community Paramedicine, the Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) which operates in partnership with the Frederick County Health Department, and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The MCH program is staffed by a uniformed, board-certified community paramedic who oversees the program’s clinical activities, as well as a civilian employee who assists with patient referrals and processing. The vision of the MCH Program is to coordinate access to community resources in order to improve individual health outcomes and overall population health. Frederick County EMS Units referred patients to the MCH Program 558 times in 2021, with several additional referrals coming in from partner agencies. Of these referrals, clinicians were most concerned about their patient’s lack of adequate self -care and a lack of resources and identified an inability to complete activities of daily living and environmental concerns as the leading causative factors in making those referrals. Responding to 26 incidents in the Community Paramedicine Program, the social determinants of health were assessed for these patients and included home safety interventions as well as referrals to other allied health and community partners. The COAST Program responded to 117 incidents and encountered 131 people. Naloxone was distributed 29 times and connected 80% of all encountered people to services which they were not otherwise receiving already. However, our response to the COVID pandemic was the most active of all, with over 518 responses to COVID related incidents. A total of 30 people were tested for COVID-19, and an additional 2,300 people were vaccinated.