The Renton Regional Fire Authority (Renton RFA) has received a generous, anonymous donation to help provide thorough care to the most vulnerable members of the Renton community through the FD CARES Program.

The donation has enabled the organization to partner with the Renton Regional Community Foundation to establish the Renton Regional Fire Authority FD CARES Fund.

The Renton RFA says that establishing the Renton RFA FD CARES Fund is an exciting development for the organization, as partnering with the Renton Regional Community Foundation allows for the establishment of an official 501c3 charitable fund.

As a result, the organization can now collect donations that go directly toward providing aid to vulnerable members of the Renton community. In addition, it allows donors to qualify for charitable tax deductions — what the Renton RFA is calling a win-win for the Renton community as a whole.

The Renton RFA FD CARES Program is specially designed to provide aid to low-acuity patients. A patient is considered low acuity when their 9-1-1 call is important, but not an emergency.

An example of a common, low-acuity call would be a slip and fall incident, where a community member has fallen and is not critically injured but does need assistance getting up. The FD CARES program takes the assistance for these patients one step further.

It is presently staffed by a licensed nurse and a dedicated firefighter or EMT. This specialized team can operate out of a smaller apparatus, outfitted with gear that is specialized for these call types, and spend more time thoroughly reviewing the patient’s immediate needs, as well as their long-term needs, to develop a care plan that ultimately removes the patient’s reliance on the 9-1-1 system altogether.

The Renton RFA believes this program frees up 9-1-1 operators and firefighters to focus on critical, emergency calls, and it also provides low-acuity patients with long-term solutions that improve their overall quality of life and independence.

Unlike a traditional 9-1-1 incident, the FD CARES team is empowered to make proactive patient visits, as well as follow-up visits. This key difference between FD CARES services and traditional emergency response services helps ensure that patients are following their care plan and that the care plan is continuing to work for them.

As of January 1, 2023, the FD CARES team will shift to being staffed by a licensed nurse and a social worker.

Over the life of the program, data has been collected that indicates that this new staffing model will create a more effective resource to meet the needs of community members, creating a direct link between patients, their long- term care needs, and the various programs available to help them live their best quality of life.