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MedStar partners with Lyft for transport of low-priority patients

Officials said Lyft drivers will not be expected to perform any medical procedures

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Lyft’s new Amp glows on the dashboard of a car in San Francisco.

Josh Edelson/AP Images for Lyft

By EMS1 Staff

FORT WORTH, Texas — MedStar Mobile Healthcare has partnered with rideshare company Lyft to help transport low-priority patients.

NBC DFW reported that MedStar and 14 surrounding communities will use a triage nurse to make a decision about the type of care required for a patient calling 911. MedStar triage nurses will recommend a Lyft if patients do not require an ambulance.

“The partnership between MedStar and Lyft here in Fort Worth we believe is unique,” MedStar spokesman Matt Zavadsky said. “We’ve not heard about it anywhere else in the country.”

The cost incurred from dispatching an ambulance, according to MedStar data, is $450; a Lyft bill for 38 rides was $429.97 for one month.

Lyft drivers aren’t aware that their passenger is en route to a hospital until they arrive for pick-up.

“You see so many different people, so many different things and you hear so many stories it’s possible [the trip to the hospital] might not even be the craziest thing they do that day,” Lyft Dallas-Fort Worth general manager Aaron Fox said.

Fox said the drivers aren’t expected to perform any medical procedures.