Clifton Park & Halfmoon EMS
Clifton Park and Halfmoon EMS recognized the power of having access to a patient’s community record for a patient whose home situation was becoming unsustainable.
Three to four times daily, over an extended period, an elderly caregiver requested help from emergency services due to a spouse’s recurring falls. While the patient was rarely physically injured, responding crews observed a rapid decline related to an Alzheimer’s diagnosis—including episodes of belligerence that at times posed greater risk to the caregiver than to the patient.
When one fall resulted in a hospital visit, the EMS crew set the stage for emergency staff while en route. With all prior interactions and referrals documented in Hixny, they alerted hospital staff to the pattern of incidents and the unsafe home environment. Rather than discharging the patient back into a situation that could no longer safely support them, hospital staff could then hold the patient until an appropriate placement was secured.
