The Community Paramedic Program is well liked in the Haliburton Highlands.
October of last year the county began the Community Paramedic Program, this program was designed to help the emergency services address the most vulnerable people receive care while being able to remain at home. The geography of Haliburton County was a big factor for the creation of the program, according to a report given to County Council, 18,000 people live across 4,000 square kilometres.
Community Paramedics do safety checks for the most at-risk people, visiting residents weekly and report on Any changes or concerns to the Nurse Practitioner, and see clients based on needs. In some cases, the Community Paramedic will visit the person once a week, or sometimes once a month.
According to the report given to the council, in the month of August, there were 141 patients enrolled in the program and 144 patients recommended for the program. The Community Paramedics did 619 home visits in the month.
Attached to the report was the feedback of some of the patients that use the program, they said “very good service,” “the Community Paramedics are Awesome,” “The Community Paramedic is kind, competent and good for my husband as we have very few visitors.”