Okay, it's 6 30 and all members of uh the committee are here.

I will call the July 20th Public Safety Committee meeting to order.

Pursuant to Lakewood Codified Ordinance 109.01 B Section B, Section 1.

As chair, I am calling for this evening's public safety committee to be held partially by video conference under ordinance 109.01.

Council members participating remotely need not be present for the purpose of voting and determining a quorum.

So with that, um all members are present.

And we have two items on the agenda.

The first is approval of the March 9th, 2026 Public Safety Committee meeting.

Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Do you I have a second second?

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

That motion carries.

So the second item on the agenda is a communication from Chief Fairbanks requesting an audience to share an update on the neighborhood paramedic program.

I look forward to hearing this update.

Um and so if we don't have any other objection or discussion, I'm I'm ready to turn things over to Chief Fairbanks, a paramedic Harper for their presentation.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

Um this is our annual neighborhood paramedic program update.

Uh this is something that we've been doing probably the last three to four years, just so we can get in front of the public safety committee and council to ensure that uh we explain exactly what the neighborhood paramedic program is up to and we also like to discuss roadblocks and any pinch points that we found along uh along the way while Oliver's been out there doing an amazing job.

So tonight uh Oliver is going to be our key presenter, but we also have Nicole Zierenberg from uh human services.

These two have been working pretty well together over the last several months.

And then we also have Captain Michael Trapoti from the fire department.

He uh is our health and safety officer, but also on the side, he is a physician's assistant and he has been a resource for Oliver while he's been running this program essentially.

So without food further ado, I will turn it over to Oliver so he can get started with his presentation.

There it is.

Yeah.

Yep.

All right.

Uh and just a little more.

Mike actually works at a uh a mental health facility too.

So he's he can give a little more insight later on here where um the the issues we're finding of people going to ERs and EDs with mental health problems getting chewed up and spit out um has been a recurrent problem.

So he's he'll shed a little more light on that um in a bit here.

But you can go next slide, please.

Uh so since the last year it's been a very busy year.

Um I partnered with Cleveland Clinic Fairview.

Uh they've started doing a kind of a pipeline with uh discharge patients that have chronic conditions, um, congestive heart failure, COPD, diabetes.

So they'll they'll send me referrals to these patients that live within uh the confines of Lakewood and send me some information about what they were uh held with and then some ideas of what they think will help bridge the gaps in their care when they get back home so I kind of get a little spiel and I I can go and visit them and see where they're at.

And uh it's been an enlightening to see kind of the people that get lost between uh going to the hospital coming home and having nothing to show for it.

So it's been super helpful to have them kind of in our back pocket, some of us patients.

Um the centers is uh a mental health urgent care be working with.

We would send some of the lower acuity uh mental health folks there, they would send an Uber out.

Instead of having an ambulance take them to the hospital for them having a uh a minor uh mental health crisis, they would send them to this facility that was kind of a one-stop shop and it was awesome.

They would do um same-day care, they'd walk in, they'd have a psychiatrist, they would have case management, uh pharmacy, everything they needed to do all all wrapped up into one and not get in an ER and sit there for eight hours and have you know not get any definitive care.

Um human services Nicole here, she's been super, super helpful.

She's managing the uh 18 to 59 age group that has been underserved as really hard to find uh resources that are better for them specifically.

And then with uh VA patients, she spent a number of years at the VA, so she's been super helpful navigating um these patients' care in the field.

With the uh Cleveland Clinic access, they they gave me access to EPIC, so I can send messages directly to doctors and kind of help them send up patient patient care appointments, let them know that I visited these patients and kind of and help them transition back into the community.

I have contractor status with the clinic so I can go to the facilities and visit patients on site while they're still admitted and uh let them know that they have access to resources in the community.

And I've been having some uh doctors, nurses, and case managers ride along with me in the field so they can see the patients that we're caring for and witness the roadblocks to care happen live, and it has happened every time they ride with me, they'll we'll call nurse triage line, calls get dropped.

Uh they sent us to the ER for things that are innocuous that are easily managed in the field.

So it's it's been super helpful to have them watch uh the things that fall apart, fall apart.

Um next slide.

Um just this is a recap of what I said already.

Um there's just a ton of things that get lost when people leave the hospital in the first week or two when all the things, all the resources are getting sent to them.

Um phones disconnect, people don't answer the phone ever.

So they're not getting home care, they're not getting follow-up care, not getting transportation.