Tempe Fire Department Creates New 911 Program

The Tempe Fire Department has a created a new program geared at helping residents who frequently call for emergency services.

At the same time, the program is expected to save Arizona taxpayers’ dollars.

It sends a nurse and a paramedic to do house calls for preventative checks on residents who are known to call emergency personnel.

Fire officials say they found a certain population that crews were interacting with almost on a daily basis through the 911 system.

The program is designed to work proactively with those people before they feel the need to call 911.

Some of the health issues identified included hypertension and diabetes.

Officials say patient advocates visited 20 homes last month, made 26 patient follow-up visits and 10 physician contacts.

The new 911 program started last November.