Portland Fire & Rescue
08/05/2024 | Press release | Archived content
PF&R Community Health Open House - August 8, 2024 (Photo)
August 05, 2024 11:10
Portland Fire & Rescue Community Health Section Open House
Community Health Assess & Treat (CHAT) New Headquarters and Expanding Services
August 8, 2024 - 12350 SE Powell - 1-3 PM
Portland Fire & Rescue's Community Health flagship program - Community Health Assess and Treat (CHAT) - is moving to a new location and hosting an open house on August 8, 2024. Please join us as we share our program information with community and governmental leaders.
Established in 2021, CHAT is an innovative emergency response program that adds value to the healthcare system by: responding to low-acuity 911 medical calls, increasing access to healthcare services, improving population health, enhancing the patient experience, reducing the cost of care, and improving responder satisfaction and resilience. CHAT responds to community members who call 911 for non-emergent medical problems, assess and treat them in the community, and follow-up with the caller within 24 hours to re-engage and provide support.
As the pressures on our prehospital care system and demand for emergency room services grew to unmanageable levels with long wait times at the ER, no room for a new patient, and the increasing costs to the entire medical system, PF&R saw a solution and implemented an innovative program to address these realities. The focus of Community Health Assess and Treat was to respond to low acuity (less severe) medical calls, assess and treat the patient where they are rather than transport to a different location, and, most impressively, come back later for follow up care that involves both medical treatment and education. Since its inception in 2021, CHAT has had quite a large impact on our community by responding to over 11,000 less severe medical calls, diverting the patient from the Emergency Room 35% of the time, and reducing the demand for the need of an ambulance transport 21%. This has led to a nearly $10M savings to the health care system and educated many in our community, both the houseless and housed, on how to seek appropriate care and begin to care for themselves at a higher level.
In addition to treating low acuity medical calls, CHAT has two focused Overdose Response Teams (ORT) that will either be dispatched directly to the potential overdose or will intercept a potential overdose call. Each focused response by our ORT teams keeps an EOPS rig in service to be able to respond to a different emergency should it crop up and gets a responder trained in Trauma Informed Care to respond to the overdose.
Lastly, our CHAT teams have increased their shifts and services during some of our recent weather events, both cold and hot, to aid in the safety and security of those in our community. Those CHAT engages with are often the most vulnerable in our society and their constant work, both in responding and in their follow up care, has built a level of trust by those served that is increasing our abilities to make inroads into those who either don't know the services available to them or did not trust the system and are now gaining this trust and finding a pathway to a healthier and more stable life. (It is important to note that CHAT is different than PSR as CHAT responds to and treats medical calls where PSR is to address those identified with behavioral health issues.)
Simply, after nearly 3 years in existence, it is evident that CHAT is making quite a difference in our community, and we are hoping to share this with you on Thursday August 8, so you can help us share our achievements to the greater community. CHAT is certain to turn heads, and we look forward to you helping us gather some increased community awareness of the program.
Location - 12350 SE Powell
Date - August 8, 2024
Time - 1-3 PM
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