Expanding Paramedicine in the Community (EPIC): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Ian R Drennan, Katie N Dainty, Paul Hoogeveen, Clare L Atzema, Norm Barrette, Gillian Hawker, Jeffrey S Hoch, Wanrudee Isaranuwatchai, Jane Philpott, Chris Spearen, Walter Tavares, Linda Turner, Melissa Farrell, Tom Filosa, Jennifer Kane, Alex Kiss, Laurie J Morrison

The incidence of chronic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), heart failure (HF) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is on the rise. The existing health care system must evolve to meet the growing needs of patients with these chronic diseases and reduce the strain on both acute care and hospital-based health care resources. Paramedics are an allied health care resource consisting of highly-trained practitioners who are comfortable working independently and in collaboration with other resources in the out-of-hospital setting. Expanding the paramedic's scope of practice to include community-based care may decrease the utilization of acute care and hospital-based health care resources by patients with chronic disease.