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Southern Tier Regional Emergency Medical Services Council

Council Meeting, Thursday, January 9, 2009; 7:00 PM EMSTAR, Elmira NY

Present: Bob Rajsky, chairperson; Steve Bennett, Gary Blitz, Frank Brzozowski, Jim Chrabaszcz, Rick Churches, Shirley Churches, Pearl Jayne (for C. Cuyle), Don Duvall, Patti Gressel, Bill Hawk, Chris Oakes (for B. Josbeno-Oakes), Bill Kennedy, Rick Kimball, Carol Lucas, Dave Molyno, Ann Repsher, Mike Smith, Mike Sprague, Teri Symonds. Staff: Judy Blair
Absent/Excused: F. Crist, C. Cuyle, L. Donley, W. Huffner, H. Jerzak, B. Josbeno-Oakes, J. Kintz, A. Lewis, S. Manganaro, D. Patterson, M. Sweely, M. Teeter.
Guests: Art Jones, Ross Zastrow
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Item Description Action
Call to Order The meeting of the Southern Tier Regional EMS Council was called to order at 7:00 PM by Bob Rajsky, Chairperson. The roll was called. None
Correspondence and announcements A letter from Staff was distributed to all Council members for the purpose of updating contact information.

EMS Leadership Webcast, April 25, 8AM-3:30 PM, sponsored by Steuben County rural Health. 		None.
The Department of Health Enforcement Notices were read:
  • Peter Toenniessen Jr of Tonawanda New York, suspended for a year and two years probation.
  • Lewis Mcintosh of Peekskill certification surrendered.
  • Mary Hartsock of Millport New York, 1 year stayed suspension and three years' probation.
  • Latonya Goodman of Brooklyn, 1 year stayed suspension and three years' probation.
  • Aaron Lockwood, West Henrietta, certification revoked.
  • John Santiago of Brooklyn, certification revoked
  • Jeffrey Tewksbury, Spencerport New York, certification revoked
  • David Wardlaw of Shinglehouse Pennsylvania, suspended for a year and three years' probation.
  • Manuel Villegas of Brooklyn, suspended for a year.
  • Machias Volunteer Fire Department, civil penalty for $6000.
Other correspondence/announcements:
  • Letter from Jim Kintz appointing Nikki O'Tool as his alternate. Motion (Duvall/Gressel) carried.
  • Committee list distributed, showing which members served on each committee. Any member who wants to change committees, please speak to the chairperson.
Approval of meeting minutes The minutes of the September 2008 meeting were approved on a motion by Ms. Gressel, seconded by Mr. Brzozowski. None
REPORTS
SEMAC/SEMSCo Mr. Duvall reported. SEMAC and SEMSCo met in early December.
  • Department of Health issued Policy 08-07 explaining implications for the use of the MOLST by EMS agencies. MOLST continuing education training is available on line; there is a link on the EMSTAR web page.
  • New form available for suspected child abuse and maltreatment that came out in October. There is a link on the EMSTAR web site for the new form.
  • Vital Signs for 2009 is going to be in Rochester, October 15 - 18, 2009.
  • Marjorie Geiger has been promoted from the bureau of EMS to Director of the Office of Patient Safety.
  • Western New York Region has adopted a post-cardiac arrest induced hypothermia protocol.
  • SEMAC Advisory 08-01 has been issued regarding waveform capnography, and goes into effect July 1, 2009. While SEMAC does not have the authority to mandate the use of a piece of equipment, it does have the statutory authority to establish the scope of practice and the standard of care for patients in New York State. Mr. Zastrow commented that while it's not a mandate, the language in it is fairly strong, and you should be doing it by that date.
  • The training and education committee is working on looking at the new EMS National Education standards and how they will be incorporated into the EMT curricula.
  • The evaluation committee released the results of their helicopter EMS scene response utilization review; they looked at data from March 1 - May 31, 2008, for consistency with Department of Health policy 05-05. This included 513 reports of helicopter utilization. They found that only 5% did not meet the criteria specified in the state policy.
  • And the last was a study that was discussed from the September 24, 2008 Journal of the American Medical Association where they undertook a study of roughly 5500 patients in 19 EMS agencies and 111 hospitals in eight cities, and found that transporting patients in cardiac arrest is futile when they meet either a 3-part BLS criteria or a 5-part ALS criteria. Using either of these sets of criteria would have eliminated half of all cardiac arrest transports
    • .
None
Training Committee Training did not meet. However, a CIC candidate, Brandon Rosettie, has completed his internship for New York State Certified Instructor/Coordinator. Rather than have the CIC candidate wait for another meeting, it was brought to the full Council for a vote. Motion (Gressel/Kennedy) carried.

A second CIC candidate was presented by Mr. Duvall: Rich Hoffman. Motion (Duvall/Gressel) carried. 		Staff to send letter to DOH.
Public Relations EMS Week is going to be May 17 - 23 this year. It was suggested that a bus trip to Albany be organized for the memorial dedication on May 20.

Gold Stars of Life: three Gold Stars have been sent in the past few months.

The committee added a couple of goals for the coming year - to try to increase public education for stroke care, and easy access and recognition for acute coronary syndrome. 		Mr. Brzozowski and Ms. Gressel will check bus companies for cost.
STREMAC Report postponed until next meeting. None
Quality Improvement Quality Improvement met in early December and reviewed the issue of "bumping" of ambulance/patients from hospital to hospital. The form for reporting this is available on the EMSTAR website. Dr. Huffner is reviewing any reports. None
Executive Committee Membership renewals for Mr. Bennett, Mr. Brzozowski, Ms. Donley, Mr. Hawk, Ms. Josbeno-Oakes, Ms. Lucas, Mr. Smith, Mr. Jerzak and Dr. Manganaro. Motion (Kimball/Sprague) carried.

Election of officers: meeting turned over to Mr. Duvall. The proposed slate of officers was Mr. Rajsky for Chairperson, and Ms. Josbeno-Oakes for Vice-Chair. There were no additional nominations. Motion (Chrabaszcz/Smith) for the secretary to cast one ballot for the nominees. Mr. Rajsky repeated the oath of office. 		None
CISM Mr. Jones reported on a CISM training seminar held in Bath in November, with 25 in the class. Interviews for the CISM team will begin January 12. EMSTAR paid the tuition for any applicant who would commit to at least one year in the team. None
Other Business New items on the EMSTAR website: Continuing Ed in Steuben County: March 21, at Bath-Haverling High School, 8:30AM-4:30PM.

911: Chemung County is upgrading their telephone system; reports will now include administrative calls, and they will be able to track moving cell phone calls. Steuben County appointed Dave Hopkins as 911 Director, with Tina Goodwin as Deputy Director. Schuyler had to operate from a mobile site for three days. They are also upgrading the entire 911 center.

A CLI course is scheduled for January 31-February 1; pre-screening will be January 13.

Cohocton Fire & Ambulance is hosting a natural gas hazards awareness class on January 20, open to all. 		None
Adjournment; Next meeting Next meeting is scheduled for March 12. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM on a motion by Mr. Sprague.