FEASIBILITY AND SAFETY OF A FIELD CARE CLINIC AS AN ALTERNATIVE AMBULANCE DESTINATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

Background: Anticipating an increased utilization of healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 surge, the San Francisco Department of Public Health developed a plan to deploy neighborhood-based Field Care Clinics (FCCs) that would decompress emergency departments by serving patients with low acuity complaints. These clinics would receive patients directly from the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system. Transports were initiated by a paramedic-driven protocol, originally by EMS crews and later by the Centralized Ambulance Destination Determination (CADDiE) System.