A committee of civic, healthcare, and faith leaders launched a program called Rapid Assessment Decision And Redirection (RADAR). For weekday daytime calls that are very likely to be non-emergent in nature, Memphis partners with a faith-based organization, Resurrection Health, to steer residents away from the ER and send healthcare providers directly to them.
For calls redirected to RADAR, Memphis dispatches a city paramedic with a Resurrection Health doctor—in a car, not an ambulance—to evaluate the caller on site. “Instead of taking them to the hospital for the medical screening exam, we’re bringing the medical screening exam to them.”