Case Study: Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services achieves 44% reduction in pediatric ED transports with Pulsara

How MEMS is Leveraging Communication Technology to Improve Outcomes for Behavioral Health Patients

Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS), a public non-profit EMS serving Little Rock and surrounding counties, faced a post-COVID surge in pediatric behavioral health calls that were overwhelming emergency departments—MEMS had been transporting every behavioral health patient under 18 to Arkansas Children’s Hospital, creating long ED waits of up to 24 hours for many patients who did not need medical clearance. MEMS had previously adopted the Pulsara platform in 2020 for time-sensitive emergencies and looked to Pulsara to help address this new challenge.

MEMS convened a task force to create criteria allowing certain pediatric behavioral health patients to bypass the ED and implemented the protocol with communication handled via Pulsara—medics can video conference with admissions, check bed availability, and send patient data en route. Between October 2022 and June 2023 MEMS answered 438 pediatric mental health calls and used the protocol to transport 196 patients directly to behavioral health facilities (a 44% reduction in pediatric patients taken to the ED), now partnering with five pediatric facilities and planning to expand to adults, demonstrating measurable improvements in patient placement and ED relief thanks to Pulsara.

Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services

Mack Hutchison

Clinical Manager