SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — Spokane County’s first mobile dispatch service opened in August and has already grown to serve about 280 patients per month.
It’s like urgent care on wheels.
The Dispatch team calls their service vehicle a “Rover.” It’s loaded with seven kits holding a variety of syringes, tests, fluids and antibiotics.
Christina Duncan, the service’s lead nurse practitioner, said the Rover holds everything that an urgent care center has.
“The car just stays fully stocked, and we go to people’s homes and take care of them,” she said. “We can respond to any non-life-threatening need.”
The teams provide service every day to all of Spokane County.
Patients can either call or submit an online form requesting help.
Dispatch then calls the patient to get more details about the assistance they need. In about two hours or less, someone arrives to help, Duncan said.
One team made a stop in Cheney at a woman’s home to offer care to a chemical burn.
Sabrina Savage called Dispatch and described her symptoms of aching and tender skin.
Within an hour, she said a team was at her door, ready to provide her with care.
“There’s no way I would have called an ambulance for this. And I was in too much pain to drive to the hospital. I just wouldn’t have gotten care if it wasn’t for them,” Savage said. “It’s like a doctor’s office, except in the comfort of your home.”
In about 45 minutes, she said the team finished treating her and filling out her prescription.
“It really was a blessing,” she said. “I’m very grateful and thankful that they could come to me.”
By summer 2020, Duncan said a third Rover could join the fleet.
The service accepts most insurance plans and charges a co-pay ranging from $5 to $50, or a flat fee of $275 for people without insurance.
“A lot of patients who are home-bound have a hard time getting out to their appointments. Sometimes these patients will just wait, and it gets to the point where they’re really sick. So we can try to treat them from home and stabilize them,” Duncan said.
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