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Tonya Papanikolas reportingThe Salt Lake City fire department says the homeless are making a large number of calls to 911, many of which are not actually emergencies. The city has teamed up with the 4th Street Clinic and IHC to produce a plan to eventually curb the calls, giving the homeless better care in the process.
Calls to 911 from a certain area of downtown are keeping Salt Lake firefighters extremely busy.
Brian Dale EMS Battalion Chief with the Salt Lake City fire department, said, "We get 911 calls from the homeless shelter on a frequent basis."
The department says it responds to the homeless shelter, overflow shelter or rescue mission up to 10 times a day. Between January 2004 and September 2006, firefighters responded to more than 1,800 emergency calls from these sites.
Dale said, "The problem is, they have no primary health care, so they utilize 911 services as their primary access to health care."
And because of that, the homeless are often calling 911 for non-emergency health issues. "These people call us for a minor problem, or they have a bump on their head, or they don't feel well, or they have cold," Dale said.
Dr. Christina Gallop, 4th Street Clinic medical director, said, "I saw a patient the other day through this project who's had 33 visits to the ER in the past two months."
The response is expensive for ambulance services and hospitals. "For them, it's a financial burden that they're not getting compensated for," Dale said.
Then there's the cost to the homeless, who are treated in the E.R. only for their immediate ailment when they usually have larger issues. Dr. Gallop says, "They don't get the follow-up they need, so then they'll often end up back in the E.R. three or four days later."
After realizing the extent of the problem, the city, IHC and the Fourth Street Clinic came up with a way to try to redirect these non-emergency patients away from the emergency room. During the day, Salt Lake firefighters are now encouraged to send non-emergency homeless callers to the 4th Street Clinic for treatment.
"We will see them, get medicines for free, make sure they have the proper follow-up appointments," Dr. Gallop says.
In the evening, EMTs will send patients to the St. Vincent de Paul overflow shelter, where a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant will treat their condition. Dr. Gallop says, "My biggest hope is to get a lot of these people a medical home."
As the program gains steam, researchers will watch to see if extra medical attention can reduce the high volume of emergency calls taxing the system. The city and IHC have both given $15,000 to fund the extra staff members at the overflow shelter. The pilot program will run through the spring. If it proves effective, other grants could possibly help keep it afloat for a couple of years.
