A paramedic arrives at a CHF patient’s home three days post-discharge. The patient’s weight is up two pounds, their breath sounds are diminished, and their oxygen saturation is trending down. The paramedic calls medical control. A physician who has never met this patient, cannot see them, and is managing three other things listens to a verbal report and makes a decision blind.
A frequent flier with a complex psychiatric history is in crisis. The paramedic has no access to the patient’s medication list, no real-time clinical backup, and no documented authorization to treat and release. They transport. The patient is back in the ED. The program’s outcomes data takes the hit.
A post-surgical patient in a rural county is developing early signs of wound infection. The nearest physician is 40 minutes away. The nearest wound care specialist is three hours away. The paramedic documents what they see and schedules a follow-up for next week. By next week, the patient is septic.