Plumas Hospital District

PDH Rural Ems Training - Summary: the PDH Rural Ems Training Project Provides Critical Training for Ems Personnel Serving the Region of Plumas, Lassen and Sierra Counties in Northeastern California. These Trainings Will Result in Advanced Certifications and Licensure for Local Emergency Medical Providers to Mitigate Disparities in Health Care Access for These Frontier Rural Residents. Training Specific to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Is Included to Elevate Care in These Areas. Population to Be Served: This Project Serves the Residents of the Frontier Rural Area Including Lassen, Plumas and Sierra Counties in Northeastern California by Training Their Local Emergency Medical Providers to Offer Increased Quality of Care, Including for Mental Health/substance Use Issues, and Increased Access to Critical Care Facilities. Residents in These Areas Currently Suffer From Delays in Ems Care When Lack of Paramedic Availability Results in Ground Service Brown-outs and When Critical Care Transport Teams Must Travel to the Counties From Outside the Area. Recruiting Personnel With Advanced Licenses/accreditations Is Challenging Due to Low Wages, High Competition and Remote Geography. in Addition, Local Ems Programs Are Serving Ever Increasing Numbers of Individuals With Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders. Strategies/interventions: Training Local Staff to Be Licensed as Paramedics Will Decrease Position Vacancies and Subsequent Emergency Vehicle Brown-outs. Training Local Staff to Be Accredited as Critical Care Paramedics Will Allow Them to Provide Critical Care Transport, Halving the Ground Transport Time Required to Deliver Critical Patients to Tertiary Facilities. Providing Local Ceu-eligible Training Opportunities for Ems Personnel Will Allow Them to Maintain Their Ability to Serve, Negating the Need to Hire Replacements. Providing Training on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders, and How to Care for Individuals Dealing With These Issues, Will Equip Ems Personnel to Better Meet This Rising Need. Project Goals/measurable Objectives: This Project Will Train 40 Unduplicated Ems Personnel. Primary Project Goals Are to (1) Increase the Capacity of Regional Ems Programs to Provide Timely Specialized Medical Services for Patients With Complex Needs; (2) Increase the Capacity of Local Ems Personnel to Care for Patients With Mental and Substance Use Disorders in Emergency Situations; and (3) Ensure the Access of Local Ems Personnel to Trainings That Improve Their Emergency Medical Skills and Maintain Their Certifications and Licenses. Measurable Objectives Include (1) the Provision of Accredited Paramedic Training to 15 Emts; (2) the Provision of Accredited Critical Care Paramedic Training to 3 Paramedics; (3) Completion of Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Training Programs by 40 Ems Personnel (40 for Mental Health First Aid for Fire/ems, 30 for Trauma-informed Service Delivery, and 15 in the Provision of Naloxone for Opioid Overdose); (4) Provision of Bi-monthly, Ceu-eligible Trainings to 28 Ems Personnel; and (5) Provision of Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support Trainings to 10 Ems Personnel Each.