The HOME Team Evaluating the Effect of an EMS-based Outreach Team to Decrease the Frequency of 911 Use Among High Utilizers of EMS

The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of the San Francisco Fire Department's Homeless Outreach and Medical Emergency (HOME) Team. Working with 59 clients who used emergency medical services (EMS) more than four times per month in a year, the authors sought to determine patterns of use before and after the intervention. The target population had a median age of 55.1 years and was 68% male; 38.0% of the target population was homeless, 43.4% had no primary care, 88.9% had a substance abuse disorder at time of contact, and 83.0% had a history of psychiatric disorder. After the first contact with The HOME Team, EMS use dropped significantly from 18.72 per month to 8.61.