Clallam County Fire District 3 leaders have started forming a community paramedic program to help residents make non-emergency phone 9-1-1 phone calls.
Battalion Chief Elliott Jones said at a Feb. 13 fire commissioner special meeting that of Fire District 3’s approximate 8,500 annual emergency calls a year, about 1,800 are low acuity (low emergency).
A week prior at another commissioner meeting, District 3 interim chief Dan Orr said the district’s current low acuity unit consists of one staffer — firefighter/EMT Scott Dickson — who will be retiring soon, opening up an opportunity to expand the position’s role.
“Staff would like to see it, and we’d like to stick our big toe in the water,” Orr said.
Staffers indicated they continue to explore options on how to better triage low acuity calls.