Progress made one year since SAFER program launched in Worthington
WORTHINGTON, Ohio (WCMH) — It's been one year since Worthington's Division of Fire and EMS started a new program called SAFER. It stands for Social Assistance for Emergency Reduction.
A small number of residents can often represent a large number of repeated emergency calls. The department said many of those calls could be prevented if residents got connected to needed services.
'So it was pretty obvious that a social worker would be a good link where the social worker could link the resident or the patient with the resources that are out there that we don't know about,' Assistant Chief of EMS and Community Risk Reduction in Worthington Jennifer Cochran said.
That human link is Nate Hall, who specializes in connecting at-risk residents with community resources at no cost.
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'We'll go out a lot of times after EMS or police interactions and speak with residents, kind of find out what the emergency is, what's going on, and how we can help and prevent future emergencies,' Hall said.
He said one of the most common calls the department receives is for falls. Previously, crews could only help that person up and offer a ride to the hospital. Now, Hall is there to do follow-ups and prevent these emergencies from happening again.
'We can go out and look at ways to keep their home safe. Things like grab bars, medical equipment, and bringing in resources. We can get ERS devices, the buttons they press if they fall,' he said.
Cochran said after a year of the program, it is already paying off.
'Connecting them to those resources naturally decreased the 911 calls,' she said.
Hall typically does visits following 911 calls but he said you can also contact the program at safer@worthington.org.
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