Changes at Atlanta's 911 ambulance service mean paramedics may now send callers with less-urgent ailments to neighborhood clinics instead of the emergency room. Grady Emergency Medical Services leaders hope the program will free emergency department staffers to focus on their most critically ill patients and give callers with less-urgent problems better service, said Arthur Yancey, MD, the medical director of Grady EMS. It could also speed ambulance response, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
