Valley Emergency Medical Service (Valley EMS) and TEAM, Inc. have developed a referral program designed to expand the reach of TEAM and the services it provides out into the Valley community.
TEAM, Inc. is a community action agency that provides services such as homemaking for the elderly, home heating assistance, Meals on Wheels, housing assistance, and early education.
Valley EMS provides paramedic service to residents throughout the Valley and is often in the homes of at-risk individuals who could benefit from the services TEAM provides but who may not know how TEAM can help them.
The program, according to VEMS Executive Director Jason Perillo, is designed to improve the lives of vulnerable families and individuals in the Valley by putting them in touch with TEAM’s staff who are trained to provide much-needed assistance.
“Our paramedics encounter individuals in need every day, many of whom could be helped by TEAM,” Perillo said. “If we can connect them with the help they need, those families will be better off.”
TEAM President Richard Knoll complimented VEMS and Perillo for taking the initiative to suggest the collaboration in which VEMS clients will receive a social referral when appropriate.
Knoll and Perillo agree that the program will help to identify those in need. Upon encountering a patient they believe would benefit from TEAM’s services, VEMS paramedics will offer the patient or their family information about TEAM along with contact information.
In addition, if the patient consents, VEMS will pass contact information along to TEAM so that TEAM can contact the patient or their caregiver directly.
The program will go into place in late January.
TEAM was formed in 1965 to combat poverty in the region and to help low-income families increase their self-sufficiency.
TEAM, Inc. manages over a dozen programs that seek to improve the lives of economically vulnerable families. A private, non-profit corporation, TEAM gives financial assistance, training, and supportive services to over 4,000 families in the region each year. TEAM provides services to families in Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Milford, Orange, Oxford, Shelton, Seymour and Woodbridge.
Valley Emergency Medical Service was formed in 1984 to provide paramedic services to the towns of Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. VEMS is a private non-profit corporation. The company responds to approximately 7,000 calls for medical assistance annually.
