“Mobile integrated health care and community
paramedicine” is the current term for a new model of
community-based health care delivery that primarily
uses emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and
systems.1 Mobile integrated health care and community
paramedicine programs address wellness, prevention, care
for the chronically ill, postdischarge care, social support
Mobile integrated health care and community
paramedicine represents an expansion in the standard scope
of practice for community paramedicine providers
compared with personnel who perform only treatment
centered on acute transport. Depending on the specific
needs of the population being served and existing resources
available in the community, some programs provide
significant additional training for community paramedicine
providers and thereby expand their scope of practice,
whereas others do not. Expanded psychomotor, diagnostic,
and triage skills, in addition to knowledge of cultural
sensitivity, chronic disease pathophysiology, and facility
with community resources, can be important parts of a
community paramedicine provider’s skill set. To meet
this need, the Community Healthcare and Emergency
Cooperative, based out of the North Central EMS
Institute in St. Cloud, MN, has developed a community
paramedicine educational curriculum. Undergraduate-level
educational institutions may obtain the curriculum free
and customize it for institution-specific community
paramedicine training programs.30
Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park, MN,
has offered a community paramedicine curriculum since
2008. This program has been adopted as an initial training
option by mobile integrated health care and community
paramedicine programs in several states.31 Individuals
taking the course must be certified at the Emergency
Medical Technician-Paramedic level and have 2 years of
full-time work experience or the equivalent amount of
experience gained through part-time employment. The
curriculum includes 72 in-person and 72 online hours of
classroom time, along with 196 hours of clinical training.32
Salient components of the course include
1. the boundaries and role of community paramedicine
provider practice in the overall health care system;
2. skills required to inventory and evaluate extant
community health services, map out community
demographics, and assess the effect of socioeconomic
factors on potential clients’ health;
3. instruction on conducting expanded histories and
physical examinations and accurately document