Community EMS...More Than Just Football Standby

Community EMS: More Than Just Football Standby by Melissa Padulsky reframes Community EMS as a proactive, patient‑centered model of care that extends well beyond event standby and traditional emergency response. Padulsky highlights how Community EMS programs address gaps in the healthcare system by focusing on prevention, education, access, and continuity of care—particularly for vulnerable and high‑utilization populations.
The work emphasizes the role of Community EMS clinicians in reducing unnecessary 911 calls, emergency department visits, and hospital readmissions through targeted follow‑ups, health screenings, medication reconciliation, chronic disease support, and social needs assessment. Padulsky illustrates how EMS providers, when empowered with expanded roles and partnerships, can function as mobile healthcare extenders who meet patients where they are—literally and figuratively.

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