The Lexington Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine Program is getting new offices on the north side of the city. City leaders cut the ribbon on the new facility Tuesday.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton says the new offices will make work more manageable for the city’s paramedic team.
“These new offices will streamline and support the work of community paramedicine, which has transformed how the Lexington Fire Department responds to complex, high-need populations,” she said.
The Lexington Fire Department started the program in 2018 and it has rapidly expanded in the years since. It focuses on reversing overdoses, harm reduction, at-home medical care, and behavioral health treatment.
“We are the consistency in their life. And you think that that's interesting, that it would be the police or the fire department that would be the consistent, but oftentimes, we are the consistent in somebody's life,” paramedic and original member Patrick Branam said.
Branam says they have more than 180 community partners that support them. Their team comprises 14 full-time members that address a wide variety of emergencies.
“It's our goal to be ready, and that's why we need all the community support and all the community help that we can get, because it makes us a larger, stronger team,” he said.
The program attempted 754 overdose follow-ups with 533 successes last year. It's also made more than 500 mental health interventions following 911 calls.
