Falls partnership between East of England Ambulance Service Trust and Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
People who have fallen in their homes will benefit from a new partnership between Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST).
The partnership is a 12-month pilot which will see four Community Wellbeing Officers work across Bedfordshire responding to non-emergency calls from people who have fallen.
The Community Wellbeing Officers completed a three-week emergency responder training with EEAST to learn the skills required for their role.
Falls can account for up to 20% of the ambulance service’s calls and although some patients will require hospital treatment, many simply need to be helped to their feet and checked over to make sure they are safe to be left at home. Currently, if a person falls at home and has no injuries, they could have a long wait for an ambulance to become available.
The new partnership aims to free up ambulance crews to attend the most seriously ill people in Bedfordshire and this new programme aims to send a Community Wellbeing Officer within an hour of the call.
Dave Lee, SC response support said:
“This vital work we’re doing with the ambulance service is all about making every contact count.
“By attending those who have fallen at home, giving them a check over and enabling them to hopefully be discharged at home, means we can also relieve pressure on the whole NHS system, whilst also being able to make referrals to partner agencies to provide ongoing support.
Tom Barker, EEAST Community Response Manager said:
“We’re delighted to be part of this collaboration with Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service which aims to improve the speed of response and increase support for people who have fallen in their homes.
“The people we’ll be responding to are the vulnerable members of our communities who will not only benefit from a quicker response to help them back on their feet, but also the person-centred home safety check that will be carried out at the same time.
“I am confident that this programme will see real benefits, for not only for the ambulance service, but more importantly to our vulnerable members of our community who we want to make sure are safe in their homes.”
How the scheme will work
When a call is received by EEAST via 999 or 111 to a person who has fallen it will be clinically assessed by the EEAST control room. If the patient doesn’t have any injuries, it will be assigned to the Community Wellbeing Officers. The officers, who will be working in pairs, will then be dispatched to the address to safely get the patient off the floor. The officers will then discuss the patient’s condition with a clinician in the EEAST control room to ensure the patient can be safely left at home.
Once the officers have assisted the patient, they will also carry out a tailored home safety check to ensure their smoke alarms are working and will also help to reduce risk of fire or further falls (loose rug, old slippers, steps without hand rails).
The aim of the partnership is to allow paramedics to be available for serious medical emergencies, while making vulnerable residents safer in their homes.