New NFPA Journal looks at emerging trend of community paramedicine and what it means for first responders

There is a dramatic shift beginning to happen with how healthcare is delivered in the United States, and fire departments could have a big role to play, according to Thomas Breyer, the director of Fire and EMS Operations at the International Association of Fire Fighters. In the feature article “Community Coverage” in the new January/February NFPA Journal, Breyer writers about the rise of community paramedicine, or mobile integrated healthcare as it’s sometimes called, where non-emergency medical care is provided outside of a hospital setting, usually in patients’ homes, by fire-based paramedics or emergency medical technicians. These types of home services...