Kissimmee Fire Department’s new Tele911 program will give 911 patients direct access to doctors

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Kissimmee Fire Department said it is having trouble keeping up with the number of emergency calls coming in.

Things have only gotten worse since COVID-19 and the department doesn’t have enough crews for the number of calls, according to KFD Battalion Chief Eric Gentry.

“Since covid in 2020, the call load has progressively gotten worse,” Gentry said. “We have to call the next closest company whether it’s from the city or it could be from Osceola County, could be from the City of St. Cloud.”

Gentry said this type of situation can happen a couple of times a week.

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To assist crews in the field, the city of Kissimmee is set to begin a new program that will give Emergency Medical Services patients direct access to doctors.

Starting Monday, the Kissimmee Fire Department is introducing a new telemedicine and patient navigation in the EMS system with the new Tele911 program.

The goals of the program are to reduce ambulance transports to the emergency room for residents who call 911 with non-emergency medical issues and cut down on the time EMTs spend on each call so they can get to the next one faster.

“When the rescue arrives on the scene they would go through a checklist and determine whether the patient meets the criteria to go through tele911,” Gentry said.

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A Tele911 emergency physician will then meet with the patient and make their diagnosis and give a treatment plan.

Less time spent on those calls means EMTs on the scene will be “free” to go to other calls, should they come up.

“The biggest stress is they’re on a call with someone who called 911 for something that isn’t an emergency situation and so now they’re tied up on this call and they hear in the background the radio going off,” Gentry said.

The next day the patient will receive a follow-up call with a doctor.

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A Tele911 social worker will also follow up with the patient to provide links to primary care and social services.

Gentry expects that this new program will decrease the call load by 10 to 15%.

KFD is one of the first fire departments in Florida to use this service.

For more information about Tele911, visit www.tele911.com.

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