Collaboration Between Health Assistance Technicians and EMS Providers: Enhancing Patient Care

Abstract

The emergency response system has become more active in the treatment and placement of patients. Health assistance technicians (HATs) have been used in busy urban areas to ensure patients get care faster. A unique team of HATs has been developed to assist in reducing the current demand for ambulances. These HATs, after extensive orientation and training, work at the firehouses on fixed shifts with EMS providers under medical direction. By being involved with the daily dispatching of ambulance resources, these HATs can apply their particular background and training to additional types of assistance and evaluation that the EMTs and paramedics may not have time to do completely. The medical intervention survey tabulated calls for service and ambulance usage involving the HATs, reporting their intervention and contribution to patient care on ambulance responses.