SANTA CLARA COUNTY, California. – Starting Wednesday, when you call 911 in some parts of Santa Clara County, your phone call may be forwarded to what authorities are calling “nurse marines.”

If you call 911 and don’t need an immediate in-person response, the dispatcher can direct your call to a medical professional who is “trained to direct callers to the correct services.”

The Nurse Navigator Program is a partnership with Global Medical Response (GMR). It is an emergency response company based in Colorado and currently provides ambulance services to the county through its transportation company, AMR.

Santa Clara County officials say the new protocol won’t slow emergency response times, but will help callers connect with other resources.

The medical director for the county’s Office of Emergency Medical Services, Dr. “We absolutely want to reassure the public that this does not in any way hinder the delivery of life-saving aid to those in need,” Kenneth Miller said.

According to Santa Clara County, callers do not need health insurance and will not be charged for receiving benefits.

The pilot program will begin Wednesday in the following South Bay cities: Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Los Altos Hills, Los Altos, Campbell, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga.

“If someone is calling because they’re not feeling well, they’re sick, they have a cold, those types of responses will likely lead to a nurse referral where they can get specific help from a registered nurse to meet their needs,” said Trisha Adcock, Santa Clara County 911 Communications Center Director.

“Instead of just giving a tool that provides response and transportation to the hospital, we’re adding another set of tools on how we can act in the community so it gives us more services instead of taking services away,” Santa Nick Clay said. Clara County EMS Director said.

These 911 dispatchers triage incoming calls, and lower-level medical calls are sent to partner company GMR, which has 30 similar programs across the country. Callers will be transferred directly to an urgent care, medical clinic or telehealth doctor.

“We have a national call center, and that’s where the nurses are based. So other nurse navigation programs across the country use the same center. The nurses used in this program are California licensed nurses,” said Darryl McClanahan, Global Medical Regional Director. Reply.

McClanahan said GMR will cover all costs of the pilot program and there will be no cost to 911 callers or the county.

Santa Clara County says they hope the program will raise funds for the most urgent calls.

“You end up with someone needing a prescription refill, and that means the person having a heart attack may not be able to get treatment due to low emergency calls,” said Santa Clara County EMS Director Nick Clay.

Some citizens stated that they liked this idea, but they also had concerns.

“So will people at 911 be trained to decide whether to call an ambulance?” wondered Campbell resident Gie Hubilla.

“They ask a lot of questions and you’re dying and you’re trying to answer the questions, so they have to come up with good questions so it doesn’t take 10 minutes to get to the ambulance,” Donna Ferrando said. Campbell said. .

“A lot of people speak different languages, so we are in the Philippines,” said Rodel Hubilla of Campbell.

“It all depends on the cost and how taxes are affected, but it looks like it will be cheaper in the long run,” said Stan Skarbeck of Campbell.

Adcock said 81 officers received 30 days of training on the specialized medical triage system created by GMR. Dispatchers and nurse navigators at the call center also have access to translation services.

The pilot program is planned to last three to six months. Clay said the county plans to evaluate the data and may expand the program countywide. GMR did not say how much the service would cost if it were to expand to the entire district after the pilot program.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is considering a similar service with GMR for its nurse navigation program that could cost up to $600,000.