Wake EMS changing process when you call 911
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Changes are coming in Wake County when you dial 911. Wake County EMS is outlining a new system it says will improve service.
Wake County EMS said that on a given day, it gets 400 calls, which comes out to every 1 to 3 minutes, but even more than that during peak times when multiple calls come in at a time.
It's planning on sharpening a triage system to make sure the quickest care goes to those who need care the most. The new system will be rolled out beginning in March.
Of all the calls that come into 911, Wake EMS said only about 1 in 10 are considered time-critical, or a life-threatening emergency.
It's why it's shifting toward a tiered system when calls come in, and lower priority calls could be routed to nurses that might be able to handle a call with tele-health, or help transport someone later.
"I think that our nurse advice line provides folks a tremendous opportunity to receive care at home or care that is better for their situation. Not everybody needs an ambulance ride to an emergency department or emergency departments are busy and overcrowded. If you come in an ambulance, you don't get to go to the front of the line in the emergency department," said EMS Director Jon Studnek.
Dispatchers will ask a series of questions to help decide what kind of response is needed, and in lower priority calls, they're also scaling back on using lights and sirens with ambulances.
But some in the audience at a community meeting on Wednesday night were concerned, wondering how that would be determined.
Lisa Shaffer said her husband had a health scare that turned into weeks in the ICU, and initially, it was difficult to get an ambulance.
"My children were there handling the call, and they call me and link me in, and I could hear all the shouting, and they had to beg and plead, you know, to get someone to send the ambulance out," Shaffer said. "And so that's why I mean, it was terrifying. And actually, my family member was going through sepsis shock. He had bloodstream infection."
EMS said cases like that are hopefully a rarity, and insisted this new system won't sacrifice safety.
"If there was one thing I would wish, I wish the community would know is that it's our responsibility to be rapid responders to patients who are time-critical emergencies and be reliable to all of the patients that call us. And we're creating a system that's going to do just that," Studnek said.
EMS plans to phase in the plan during the next few months and will have six more community meetings as it continues to roll out this new process. The next community meetings are March 3 at 11 a.m. at 221 S. Rogers Lane in Raleigh and 7 p.m. at Morrisville Town Hall.
