The care of patients in emergency situations is one of the most important tasks in the healthcare system. In recent years, the number of patients in emergency rooms and ambulance services has risen steadily, while the number of emergencies treated by the on-call service of SHI-accredited physicians has continued to fall. Spending on emergency services has increased tremendously during this period: In 2005, a total of 2.6 million euros was spent on rescue services while in 2015 it was already 4.6 million euros. However, this is not due to an increase in life-threatening emergencies. Rather, more patients are using the rescue service or emergency rooms even though they could actually be cared for locally. In four municipalities in the Oldenburg region, "community paramedics" are helping to relieve the burden on rescue services and emergency rooms. These paramedics assess the patients' emergency situation and, if necessary, provide them with on-site care. The community paramedics also decide on further treatment, if possible. Community paramedics are deployed when a life-threatening injury or illness has already been ruled out by the control center, but without personal contact with the patients it is not possible to decide whether they should present to another care facility.

The goal of the research project is to depict the changes in the utilization of ambulance services and emergency rooms due to the deployment of community emergency paramedics. In addition, the continuing care of patients will be mapped and, at the same time, data on safety and quality of care will be collected and evaluated. It is planned to evaluate control center, ambulance service, and emergency department data. In addition, patient and general practitioner surveys will be conducted. In this way, the scientists involved want to obtain a data basis to be able to steer the project and, if necessary, extend it to other districts. The project is funded for two and a half years with a total of approximately 1.1 million euros, project start is 01.07.2020.