Call 911 in Arlington? You might not get an ambulance
People calling 911 in Arlington may be connected with a nurse to help them work through nonurgent issues in a new program launched by the city in May.
“What we’ve learned is patients called 911 for a myriad of reasons, and those reasons aren’t always a time-sensitive need that we need to get an ambulance to them right away,” said Dr. Gerad Troutman, associate chief medical officer for Global Medical Response, the parent company of AMR, Arlington’s EMS provider with the Arlington Fire Department.
The first part of the 911 call stays the same, Troutman said: A caller dials 911 and talks to someone who determines whether an ambulance and first responders are needed.
“If this is a major trauma ... like a stroke or a heart attack, nothing changes,” Troutman said. “Those are still getting a quick lights-and-sirens immediate response.”
But if the call is lower acuity, Troutman said, the caller will be asked if they want to be transferred to a nurse navigator. From there, the nurse will help the caller determine what the appropriate next steps are for care. There is no charge to talk with the nurse, Troutman said.
The nurse navigation program started in Washington, D.C., about seven years ago, and now is in place in more than 30 locations across the U.S. Elsewhere in Texas, the nurse navigation program is operational in Amarillo and Waco.
Patients report being satisfied with the service they receive in the nurse navigation program, Troutman said, with patients rating the service they receive a 4.8 out of 5.
Juan Mata, a spokesperson for the Arlington Fire Department, said he hopes this program will alleviate the increasing call volume in Arlington. Mata said 911 calls for services have been steadily increasing in recent years, and the fire department hopes the nurse navigation program will help reduce call volume by 3% to 6%.
Troutman said nonurgent calls redirected to the nurse navigators will result in cost savings for Arlington.
“Every patient that is diverted out of the emergency department system, that’s a several thousand dollars worth of bills,” he said. “Across the community, it saves the community millions upon tens of millions of dollars.”
