ASSESSING PARAMEDICS' PERSPECTIVES ON AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VIRTUAL OBSERVATION UNIT FALL PREVENTION PROGRAM.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injury for older adults. We created the Emergency Department Virtual Observation Unit (EDVOU) to provide observation level care for older ED patients in their homes and better assess their fall risks. Mobile integrated health (MIH) paramedics visited patients' homes where they conducted a multicomponent fall evaluation and facilitated an emergency medicine telemedicine consult. We aimed to understand paramedics' experiences in our EDVOU Fall Program.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative study through semi-structured interviews of EDVOU Fall prevention paramedics to determine how comfortable they were with implementing the EDVOU fall program. Interviews were transcribed, independently reviewed by multiple team membe

SUBMITTER: Wang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12614092 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature