Paramedics treating patients at home eases end-of-life journey, caregiver says

The daughter of a cancer patient in Nova Scotia says a new program, which allows paramedics to care for palliative care patients in their homes instead of rushing them to the hospital, has helped make her father's final days a little bit easier.

TheParamedics Providing Palliative Care at Home Program is funded by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancerand is currently available in both Nova Scotia and P.E.I.

Although program development and training began in 2014, the programdidn't officially launch untilJune.Funding expires at the end of 2016.

We already face many unknowns as we go through this,and just to know that that support is available, I think, can make the journey just a little bit easier.- Lisa Martin

First experience

Lisa Martin, from Sackville,told the CBC's Information Morning she first learned about the program in July, when her father's health took a turn for the worse.

She called 911 and told the dispatcher her father was a palliative care patient, and even though he wasn't officially enrolled in the program, two paramedics came to the house.

Theystayed with her father for a couple of hours.

They were "very knowledgeable, kind and supportive, to both my dad and the family," Martin said. They "made us feel quickly at ease and made a stressful situation a lot easier."

'Efficient and timely'

Martin said the paramedics assessed her father and discussed thetreatment plan with a medical resident over the phone. They gave him an IV, and even stayed with him while she ran out to buy his antibiotics.

She said her father received the same treatment he would have had in hospital "but it was more efficient and timely," and it meant the family could avoid a lengthy wait in the emergency room.

• Changes needed to boost end-of-life care in Canada: doctors

Paramedic Katherine Houde said she remembers the frustration she felt caring for palliative care patients under the old model.

Patients with chronic conditions which aren't considered urgent in the emergency room would "just beg" to stay at home, but Houde had no choice but to bring them to the waiting room, where they'd wait in the hallways for hours.

Eases the journey

Martin said it's a comfort to know that her father will be taken care of at home the next time an acute situation arises.

"Patients and families, we already face many unknowns as we go through this," Martin said."And just to know that that support is available, I think, can make the journey just a little bit easier."

• Dr. Brian Goldman:Palliative care gets a 'D' in Canada

Houdesaid the program has changed her relationship with all of her patients even outside of palliative care.

"In the past, we used to go in, correct things as fast as we could, and really look at it as a problem," she said. "Now, I think, it's made us think of every patient as a human being."

Financial savings

Patients are well-served financially, too, Houde said. They typically have to pay approximately $140 out of pocket to be transported to the hospital by ambulance, she said, whereas the care is free for patients when they are treated at home.

It's cost-effective for the province too, because they only have to pay two paramedics for a couple of hours, "versus a patient taking up a bed, doctors's fees, nurses's fees, lab feesand all of that," Houdesaid.

• Auditor general warns Nova Scotia needs urgent changes to health care

Information Morning - NS6:56Trading the hospital room for the comforts of home

Sirens and flashing lights. That's what palliative care patients in Nova Scotia used to have to endure in their final hours. But not anymore. A program called Paramedics Providing Palliative Care at Home allows patients in Nova Scotia to avoid the ambu