Our models of care

Title: The Falls Co-Response Program is a partnership between the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) and participating Queensland Health Hospital and Health Services.

A paramedic works alongside a Queensland Health occupational therapist or physiotherapist to respond to someone who has fallen over and sought the assistance of the QAS via Triple Zero (000).

Paramedic to patient: “Did you get yourself off the ground or did someone help you?”

Jack, falls patient: “I stayed on the ground and the lady next door came, she heard a bang, she came out.”

Paramedic Janice: “I absolutely love working on the falls.

I really enjoy being able to go to people who genuinely need support.”

Occupational Therapist (OT) Rosie: “I think it's a great success.

It's the most satisfying job I've ever done.

They are often so delighted to be up off the ground and ‘you came, and you helped me’.”

EMD voice over radio: “You will be attending a lovely 103-year-old man, lives alone. He's sustained a slip off the bed.”

Paramedic Janice: “As a paramedic, we do a lot of scene safety sort of stuff.

So you're looking for, you know, weapons or medications or other sort of things.

Whereas the physios or the OTs are looking at whether the fridge is full of food, and the toilets are at the right height, and the beds are easily accessible, the walkways are clear.

So it's just a completely different perspective I now look at even when I'm just on a normal truck.”

Paramedic, while helping patient to stand: “Good job.
Well done.”

OT Rosie: “The paramedic ultimately determines whether there's some sort of medical issue that's actually going on hat would then change the trajectory of where we're going to take this person.

We've assessed Esdale and we've decided that he's possibly going to be able to stay home, but we do need to just walk him through his unit and just make sure that he can mobilise quite safely.

Sometimes people aren't unwell, they just have actually fallen for whatever reason or slipped off the side of the bed.”

OT Rosie, to patient: “And you what - you slid off sideways?”

Esdale, falls patient: “Yeah, I must have.”

OT Rosie, to patient: “And that would explain why this elbow is a bit banged up.”

OT Rosie: “We may either help get them up off the ground, using our lifting gear, and then look for all those hazards from a falls point of view.

Can this person stay at home? And then what kind of follow up we need to have in place?

Quite often we can try to find that moment or what was that thing that actually went wrong for them and then can we actually help plug that hole or put some more supports in place.”

OT Rosie, to patient: “I'm pretty happy with how you're walking.”

Esdale, falls patient: “I'm happy for walking, too – let’s be happy together… (singing, laughing) …and the skies are blue again!”

OT Rosie: “If we do have to take somebody to hospital.

We can say, hey, this person's got a fridge full of rotting food or they're not taking their medications, or their medications are scattered everywhere, or there's trip hazards galore.”

Peter, Patient’s son: “Someone like my dad living independently at his age, the biggest thing is he's likely to have a fall.

Having just been to hospital from a previous fall and he was in there for several days.

It was actually very hard to get him out.

So the fact that you're able to come out and assess everything, it's fantastic.”

OT Rosie: “It's a really nice way for us to hand that information on to the discharge planning hospital who then can do all the work in the background with some appropriate supports in place.”

Paramedic Janice: “The falls program is very positive. It's definitely a needed service throughout the community.

Keeping people out of hospitals, being able to get them connected into services that they're, you know, potentially falling through the cracks in already. Like it's just so valuable.”

OT Rosie: “The kind of wonder from the community, that we can come and actually just provide this service, has actually been incredibly satisfying.”