Name
Meeting Them Where They Are: A Practical Framework for Teaching Prehospital Care of the Unhoused
Date & Time
Thursday, February 4, 2027, 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Speakers
Description
Many EMS agencies encounter patients experiencing homelessness regularly, but formal training on this population remains inconsistent across systems. This presentation describes the development and delivery of a cultural competency training for community paramedics presented for agencies in Milwaukee, WI and St Charles, MO, and a new partnership it generated in Missouri with a local street medicine organization.
The training addressed five core components: medical context, structural barriers, trauma as a clinical framework, practical trauma-informed communication, and language reframing. It was framed around what experienced providers actually needed rather than clinical content they already possessed, and emphasized peer-to-peer learning and street medicine experience to ground abstract concepts in field-level realities.
This presentation is relevant to WEMSA members working in community paramedicine, medical education, and public health, and particularly those in systems who may lack existing infrastructure for this work. It offers a replicable framework for educators seeking to build cultural competency training from the ground up, and a practical model for initiating partnerships with community organizations that are already serving this population.
Location Name
Hall C Stage
Full Address
Resch Expo
840 Armed Forces Dr
Ashwaubenon, WI 54304
United States
840 Armed Forces Dr
Ashwaubenon, WI 54304
United States
Session Type
Lecture
CAPCE Topic Area
Community Paramedicine
CAPCE Category
Operational
Number of CE Credits
1
Learning Objectives
1. Identify the knowledge gaps most relevant to prehospital clinicians caring for patients experiencing homelessness, distinguishing between clinical content needs and psychosocial and communicative context.
2. Design a cultural competency curriculum for prehospital clinicians that incorporates trauma-informed communication, structural barriers to care, and language reframing as core components.
3. Apply adult learning principles to deliver cultural competency training that builds on existing provider experience and fosters peer-to-peer learning rather than passive content delivery.
4. Develop strategies for initiating partnerships between EMS agencies and community organizations already serving patients experiencing homelessness.
At the end of this session, the participants will be able to:
2. Design a cultural competency curriculum for prehospital clinicians that incorporates trauma-informed communication, structural barriers to care, and language reframing as core components.
3. Apply adult learning principles to deliver cultural competency training that builds on existing provider experience and fosters peer-to-peer learning rather than passive content delivery.
4. Develop strategies for initiating partnerships between EMS agencies and community organizations already serving patients experiencing homelessness.
At the end of this session, the participants will be able to: