The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion to begin using healthcare-on-wheels units as a cost-effective way to alleviate crowded emergency departments, according to a Los Angeles Daily News report.
The motion aims to find a way to alleviate crowded emergency rooms, while providing mental health patients with more focused care. The Board also discussed how paramedics can start to take homeless patients who need mental healthcare to urgent care centers rather than emergency rooms.
The volume of 911 calls increased significantly last year and the Fire Department expected to field over 400,000 calls for emergency medical services in 2018, Los Angeles County fire Chief Deputy David Richardson Jr., who oversees emergency operations, told the Board Jan. 9.
"Our paramedic units are ever busier, and our Emergency Departments function at or above their capacity on most days, as evidenced by ambulances forced to wait to offload their patients," said Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who introduced the motion. "Our safety net is so full that it lacks surge capacity, and even a predictable rise in volume from a flu season coming a month early is enough to imperil our system and community health."