911 call centers are overwhelmed: How Oneida County proposes to ease the burden
Editor's note: The Nurse Navigator program was scheduled to launch Tuesday, June 6.
Oneida County will soon start a Nurse Navigator program, which will allow the county’s 911 center to transfer non-emergency calls directly to a nurse.
The program, first introduced by Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente Jr. in his State of the County Address, is expected to begin mid-June.
Picente said the program is expected to alleviate stress on ambulance services, fire departments and emergency rooms.
“The need has been there,” Picente said a few days ago, talking about the program. “... We think it will be a valuable tool.”
About the program
Ed Stevens, director of Oneida County Emergency Services, said the program is designed to divert low acuity medical calls to the nurse navigators to help patients get the proper care without being transported by an ambulance or waiting in emergency rooms, congesting those systems when such transport and emergency room visits may not be the most appropriate care.
The nurses – working under the direction of a physician - are based out of Texas and will be staffed accordingly due to call volume and needs for contracted communities.
Stevens said the program is used across the country as well as in nearby Monroe and Onondaga counties.
How it will work
When a caller contacts 911, a dispatcher asks a standard line of questions derived from the Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) protocol questions. Based upon the caller's responses to those questions, the EMD program yields a determinant.
Certain low acuity determinants have been identified by the county 911 Center’s medical control physician and EMS Coordinator as being appropriate for transfer to the Nurse Navigation program.
Once a determinant code meeting nurse navigation criteria is identified, the caller will be transferred to the Nurse Navigation call center.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Nurse Navigator program to relieve clogged 911 lines in Oneida County
