SWIFT planning to expand with new funding
WICOMICO CO., Md. – For years, SWIFT has helped hundreds of people in Wicomico County and now they are expanding with the help of some new funding.
SWIFT, also known as the Salisbury/Wicomico Integrated Firstcare Team, is a mobile health program which responds to frequent 911 callers.
However, it goes beyond cutting down on unnecessary calls by also providing an opioid overdose response.
“That’s really what the program is after, finding certain areas and groups of patients that may be vulnerable or don’t have quite the access to health care that they need,” said Chief Rob Frampton of the Salisbury Fire Department.
The Salisbury Fire Department recently received a $542,000 grant from the State of Maryland Office of Overdose Response.
City Council must officially approve the funding, but Chief Frampton said it will allow them to expand coverage on nights and weekends.
It will also allow for community outreach into the school systems.
“We would like to roll this out to an older group, say 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, to make them aware of the dangers of opioid use,” said Frampton.
In 2024, Frampton said Swift teams responded to more than 400 calls.
Jessica Stoner is one of three TidalHealth nurse practitioners that help with the program.
“Some days I’m running a chase unit with 911 calls trying to keep patients with low acuity issues at home and not need to go to the ER, and then the second part of our program we always say the SWIFT 1.0 model, we’re out in the community talking with people, making sure they follow up with their primary care, treating them as a nurse practitioner would in an office and just improving the overall health of our community,” said Stoner.
Stoner said she hopes the expansion will help combat opioid use in our community.
“We want to be in the schools educating early on about the issues that come with drug use and the scariness about it, and to really make sure our community is safer,” she said.
For more information about the SWIFT program you can reach out to the Salisbury fire department. The headquarters phone number is 410-548-3122.
