Under a $65,000 grant from the Doree Taylor Charitable Foundation, Boothbay Region Ambulance Service is expanding its role in the community.

Scott Lash, operations manager for the service, said the grant has allowed for the purchase of an SUV response vehicle and also covers additional personnel expenses. The vehicle serves a number of purposes, for example, navigating through crowds and moving equipment. One of the uses has been to help the service provide a community paramedic program.

Unlike traditional emergency calls, which dispatch an ambulance, the paramedic program assists local residents who need care at home in a non-emergency situation. As Lash explains, “Our real role in the community is to be responsive to healthcare needs on a larger scale.”

He gives examples of residents who are at home and need to have basic vital signs checked, blood draws, oxygen assessments or wound checks. In these instances, the paramedic program supplements and augments other types of home visits. Residents may be home bound due to illness or recent surgery. And the service will also assist island residents, who may face a real hardship due to their remote locations.

“So the nurse may visit one day to give a higher level of care and we would be there another day to check other issues,” Lash said. “This can free up a district nurse or home health nurse for other things.”

Lash said the program reflects changes occurring nationally and also in Europe. He referred to this as “integrated mobile healthcare” and explained that it involves deploying EMS personnel in a more preventive role.

Lash also explained that by offering the types of care provided by the paramedic program, EMS staff are able to expand their experience. “Being prepared makes us better clinicians,” he said.

Paramedic assistance is arranged by contacting the primary care physician, who will write a medical order for the service. For more information, contact Scott Lash at 633-7711.