Lubbock Fire Rescue and University Medical Center EMS are improving the way they respond to 911 medical emergencies.
The two organizations will begin medical priority dispatch, which is designed to better utilize resources and increase safety for the public and first responders.
Jeff Hill, the Vice President of Support Services at UMC, said it will help benefit the public.
“In the long run what I hope that it does is that it provides the right patient with the right resources at the right time, with the standard approach we’re sending all the resources available to every single call, ” Hill said.
Dispatchers will ask a series of questions that will help determine the level of severity before sending out LFR and UMC EMS.
“It’s a series of questions that have been validated by the international academies of emergency dispatch. It’s not something we made up, it’s standardized. It’s shown scientifically over and over to be valid and good at teasing out what true medical emergencies are,” Hill said.
Hill said that by changing the policy, it will keep responders and the traveling public safe.
Medical Director Gerad Troutman said fifty percent of the nation does this, but Lubbock had not prioritized the issue.
“I think the biggest thing this accomplishes for Lubbock is safety for our citizens and better response for our patients. Whenever we send out lights and sirens for every single call, it’s not the best way to be responding and we’re putting the public at risk, so it decreases that, ” Troutman said.
The new policy will begin on July 18th.
