This week's stories share a common thread: the most effective emergency response systems are the ones that know when not to respond the way they always have. A retiring paramedic in Washington built four years of trust one patient at a time. A city in Ohio is betting on prevention before the next 911 call comes in. And Sacramento is already diverting four in ten ER trips by simply matching the right resource to the right need.
Without further ado let’s jump into it:
Table of Contents:
Anacortes' Pioneer Community Paramedic Leaves Behind a Legacy of Trust and Fewer 911 Calls
Xenia Bets on Prevention: Ohio City Kicks Off Year-Long Community Paramedicine Pilot
Sacramento Reimagines EMS with Dedicated Station That's Already Diverting 42% of ER Trips
Read Time: 3 minutes
A program-defining pioneer retires: Steve Monrad, the first community paramedic in Skagit County, is retiring in June after launching Anacortes' community paramedicine program in 2021 in partnership with Island Health.
Monrad helped 278 people over the course of the program, reducing each patient's 911 calls by at least 50% per year — including one woman whose 73 calls in 18 months dropped to just 10 in the following six months.
Monrad's patient base is mostly aging and disabled residents managing complex medical, mental health, or substance use challenges — people who call 911 because they don't know a better way to get help. His background in social work shaped his philosophy of building trust over time rather than treating problems as quick fixes.
Monrad built a first-of-its-kind team in Skagit County pairing fire, police, and a social worker to assist people experiencing homelessness, and developed rare access to hospital medical records to better coordinate patient care.
Monrad, 54, is stepping away on June 10 after a 29-year career as a paramedic, including a recent kidney transplant following a rare autoimmune disorder diagnosis in 2020. His parting advice for his successor: "Treat people like people, and have patience.
Xenia, Ohio launched a one-year Community Paramedicine Pilot Program on June 1, targeting residents who frequently call 911, are fall risks, or have recently been discharged from the hospital with chronic conditions.
The program focuses on delivering preventative in-home care to address health issues before they become emergencies, making the city's EMS system more effective and sustainable.
City Manager Brent Merriman called it a win for residents, families, and the whole community, with the city planning to evaluate the program's impact over the coming year.
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Sacramento reopened Fire Station 140 in South Natomas as the city's first EMS-centered response hub, now housing the Sacramento Fire Department's street overdose response team, mobile crisis unit, and Mobile Integrated Health program. The move was driven in part by a city audit finding that fire ambulances were responding to thousands of low-acuity calls each year, contributing to long hospital wait times and higher system costs. The new model is designed to match the right response to each call, routing mental health and non-emergency medical cases to appropriate specialists rather than defaulting to advanced life-saving units. Fire officials report the program has already achieved a 42% diversion rate from ER transport, with improved hospital offload times as an added benefit.