skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Paramedics Using Telehealth to Keep Mildly Ill Patients Out of Hospital

play audio
Play

Monday, April 6, 2020   

LOS ANGELES -- If you call an ambulance in Los Angeles these days, you may wind up videoconferencing with a nurse practitioner at home instead of going to an emergency room. Paramedics in Los Angeles are trying a new telehealth program to treat people with mild illnesses on the scene, which saves precious hospital beds for severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Sean Ferguson, firefighter specialist with the L.A. County Fire Department, said in cases of mild illness, a nurse practitioner can provide the right level of care.

"They can then further evaluate the patient, make their own medical assessment, create a treatment plan and even prescribe medicine to them, thus saving them a trip to the emergency room," Ferguson said.

The fire department for the City of L.A. also is participating in the program, which is free to patients and saves them a very expensive trip to the ER. This is one of the first large-scale paramedic telehealth programs in the country to be created in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Ferguson said people call ambulances for non-emergency reasons on a regular basis - sometimes even if they've just run out of a prescription - and that puts a strain on hospitals.

"We still encourage people to call 911 if they believe they have a medical emergency," he said, "and then through our medical assessment on scene, we may then conference them in to these nurse practitioners."

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order expanding protections for medical providers that offer telehealth services. Ferguson said the city and county hope to continue the telehealth program long after the current crisis has passed.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021