Table of Contents:

• Trivia

• Iowa’s Community Paramedics Are Stepping In Before Emergencies, Keeping People Safe at Home

• When Health Care Is Hours Away, Rural Colorado Residents Lean on Mobile and Community-Based Response

• New Paramedic Chief in Cochrane District Eyes Expanded Community-Paramedicine to Bring Care Home

Read time: 4 minutes

Home Care

Johnson County, Iowa’s new mobile-integrated health program uses community paramedics to deliver preventive, in-home care that helps high-risk individuals avoid unnecessary hospital visits. Instead of waiting for emergencies, paramedic Mike Mothershed performs small but critical tasks, like replacing smoke-detector batteries or rearranging the home to reduce fall risk, for clients with chronic illnesses to help them stay safely at home.

The program serves about 13–15 clients at a time and focuses on medication management, care coordination, and social support, effectively serving as both medical and social-care interventions. Since launching in early 2024, several clients have “graduated,” meaning they no longer need the program’s help once they stabilize and get connected to long-term supports. The initiative shows how reimagining EMS beyond just response can ease emergency-department strain, reduce costs, and, most importantly, prevent crises before they happen

Rural Care

In sparsely populated parts of western Colorado, residents may need to travel hours to reach a hospital, a gap that local “rural health partners” are scrambling to plug with home-based care and outreach. Rather than waiting for emergencies, community-based providers deliver preventive and supportive services, like in-home medical check-ins, care coordination, and outreach to frail or isolated patients, helping catch problems early.

By bringing care to people’s doorsteps in remote areas, these partners help reduce reliance on long hospital trips and lower the risk that distance or transportation issues will delay needed treatment. This grassroots model underscores how rethinking care delivery, emphasizing prevention and community support rather than reactive trips to hospitals, can bridge critical access gaps for rural populations.

Leadership

The newly appointed paramedic chief in Ontario’s Cochrane District EMS says expanding community paramedicine is now a top priority, delivering non-emergency, home-based care instead of traditional emergency-response only. Under the proposed expansion, paramedics will increasingly handle preventative care, chronic-disease monitoring and follow-ups, aiming to keep vulnerable patients stable and reduce emergency-department visits. The push reflects a broader shift toward leveraging paramedics as part of integrated community-care strategies, not just as first-responders. Local officials suggest this could improve health outcomes across rural and underserved areas in Cochrane District.