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| Photo courtesy of the Rural Monitor Newsletter. |
Chris Berdouly is excited about the new challenges he will encounter this fall when he begins going into homes in western Colorado as a community paramedic, providing primary care for patients with chronic illnesses and medical needs.
“We’ll still be EMS providers doing what we normally do but adding this service in our counties will be great, saving money and ultimately giving people better care,” said Berdouly, who works for the Western Eagle County Ambulance District (WECAD) in Colorado’s Eagle and Garfield counties. “We’re in this job because we’re all people persons and we think it will be satisfying to help people in a different capacity.”
Paramedics Kevin Creek, Kate Hawthorne, and Eric Gundlach are participating in the community paramedic program in Colorado state.WECAD and a Minnesota EMS program have been selected for a five-year pilot program by the Community Paramedic Program, a program run by the Community Healthcare and Emergency Cooperative that focuses on expanding the EMS role by training emergency personnel to provide primary care and public health in underserved areas.
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