The hospital care and outcomes of long-term care patients treated by paramedics during an emergency call: exploring the potential impact of 'treat-and-refer' pathways and community paramedicine.

This study found 7.9% of LTC patients transported to the ED did not receive diagnostics, medications, or treatment, and overall 11.1% of patients could have been treated by paramedics within current medical directives using 'treat-and-refer' pathways. This group could potentially expand utilizing community paramedics with expanded scopes of practice.