While most patients dial 911 for emergencies, there are a quite a few who have a habit of making unnecessary calls — for something as simple as falling out of bed.
The numbers are staggering. In 2017, paramedics with the Lexington Fire Department responded to 48,238 medical calls. Only 266 people accounted for 8.9-percent of those calls.
The Lexington Fire Department and students from the University of Kentucky College of Social Work have partnered in a pilot program to tackle the issue of non-emergency calls bombarding the 911 emergency system.
In March, the city launched the Community Paramedicine Program. The goal? To save citizens, local government and private insurers thousands of dollars by reducing the numbers of runs for frequent callers or "super users."