Western Mass Emergency
Medical Services Committee, Inc.
Meeting:
Executive Committee
Date: January 4, 2001
Place: East Wing 2 Conference Room, CDH,
Northampton
Presiding: Robert Hopkins, President
Called
to Order: 10:05 am
Adjourned: 11:25 am
Attendance:
Present: Brian Andrews, Raymond Conway, Mary Cushman, Dan
Harrington, Robert Hopkins, Dana Johnson, Dave Keefe, Steve Manchino, Linda
Moriarty
Excused:
Absent: Mike Tourjee
Guests: Steve Cote, Lisa Herringshaw, Dawn Josefski, Jeff Rawson
Minutes: The minutes were accepted as written.
EMS 2000:
Discussion:
OEMS has sent out the new
regulations that went into effect 12/9/00.
There will be another revision that will incorporate the proposed
amendment changes. At this time OEMS is
reviewing the comments that were submitted. Mr. Johnson mentioned that he has
just recently received the BLS equipment list that went into effect
3/8/00.
Action: None.
WMEMS Retirement Plan:
Discussion:
After some investigation and hard work by the committee, an appropriate retirement plan has been agreed upon for the full time employees of WMEMS.
Action: None.
State Trauma Committee:
Discussion:
The State Trauma Committee has finally set a date for their first meeting. It will be January 25, 2001 in Waltham from 12:30 to 2:45 at the Mass. Medical Society. At the first meeting, Ms. Cushman will not be there, but Mr. Harrington will be. The reps from our area are Hank Porten, Dan Harrington, and Mary Cushman. There was discussion about reactivating our Regional Trauma Committee. A suggestion was made to have the chairman be a physician. Dr. Conway was mentioned as a possibility.
Action: None.
Diversion:
Discussion:
A diversion
meeting was planned for January 11, 2001.
From what the office has been hearing, all seems to be going okay. There have been a few minor problems that
have been remedied. Mr. Manchino feels
that it seems to be working out well in Hampden County. Ms. Moriarty believes that most of the
problems are at the other end of the state which in turn is creating newspaper
coverage and television coverage in our area.
Mr. Keefe asked if there should be a regional person to speak with the
media. Ms. Moriarty stated that a great
deal of the time the reporters do call the WMEMS office to speak with her.
Ms. Moriarty has not heard anything new from Mr. Restuccia regarding helicopters.
Action: None.
Legislative Breakfast:
Discussion:
Mr. Keefe spoke to Mr. Forgea
and heard there are some other agencies trying to do gatherings, and there is
some reluctance on the legislators part.
Ms. Moriarty is going to speak with Senator Nuciforo. Mr. Johnson has all of the legislators e-mail
addresses and he will contact them.
Tentatively, this event would be scheduled on a Friday in February, with
some discussion still pending as to whether it will be a breakfast or cocktail
hour.
Action: Ms. Moriarty to contact Senator Nuciforo.
P/B Waivers:
Discussion:
Ms. Moriarty stated that OEMS
is looking at the current P/B Waiver regulation and is in the process of
revising it. All of the Regional
Executive and Medical Directors have had input. Almost all of the Paramedic services in Region 1 are utilizing
the P/B Waiver and we do not feel that there is a problem with the current
regulation. Mr. Keefe wondered if OEMS
was revising the P/B Waiver based on any data and Ms. Moriarty stated that
there is no data regarding the waivers.
Mr. Manchino feels that many fire services would like to upgrade to the
Paramedic level with a goal of P-P staffing.
For smaller towns that goal is much harder to obtain. Regions 1, 2, and 5 have many services with
P/B waivers while Regions 3 and 4 do not.
Ms. Moriarty will bring a
copy of the latest draft to Regional Council meeting for all Executive
Committee members. If anyone has any
comments, contact Ms. Moriarty and she will pass them on to OEMS.
Mr. Johnson talked with Dr.
Dinneen at last Dr. evaluation about an Intermediate program running in
Buckland and Greenfield. Mr. Johnson is
wondering how these programs will be able to get through all of the training in
time to meet the proposed ALS staffing regulation.
Action: Ms. Moriarty to bring copies of latest draft of P/B
waivers to RC meeting.
Communications:
Discussion:
Mr. Andrews would like to ask if Ms. Moriarty could help Mr. Keefe
write a letter to OEMS regarding any funding that might be available to make
communication modifications, and also about the propogation study that was done
by the state police. Mr. Andrews stated
that there are some frustrated members on the communications committee. A question was posed as to whether Mr. Cote
is being pulled by the office to complete tasks other than communications. The committee has made some deadlines for
tasks that have not been completed as of yet, and they need to be worked
on. The two crucial tasks that need to
be done are 1)a service survey and 2)setting up a meeting with Jim Controvich. In regards to the recorders, Nobles recorder
is installed and operational but in Berkshire County, there are definite
problems. Mr. Andrews made a motion to
spend $1000.00 total to put radios in at the remaining hospitals. Discussion: Mr. Andrews is worried about
liability issues with Mr. Cote trying to install them himself, and he is also
concerned with the fact that the radios are not in yet. Motion was voted on and carried
unanimously. Mr. Cote to work with a
person familiar with the Berkshire County hospital systems and get the recorders
installed.
Action: Ms. Moriarty to assist Mr.
Keefe with letter to OEMS. Mr. Cote to
meet deadlines for survey and meeting with Mr. Controvich. Mr. Cote to get
recorders installed.
Conflict of Interest:
Discussion:
Ms. Cushman wondered about the status of the conflict of issue in the
regulations. Ms. Moriarty stated that
OEMS has backed off on their wording.
Speaking with attorney is still up in the air.
Action: We will wait
to speak with attorney until after the final regulations are in place.
Scholarships:
Discussion:
The training committee is
still creating criteria for the scholarship funds.
FYI: Mr. Hopkins received a phone call from Sharon Stuart (Mary’s
daughter-in-law) regarding the fund.
The family would like the money to go towards whatever the committee
feels is appropriate.
Action: None.
New Business
Defib Fees to WMEMS:
Discussion:
Mr. Johnson mentioned that at
the doctor evaluation in Franklin County there were questions raised regarding
the $10.00 fee for defib cards from WMEMS.
Ms. Moriarty stated that the defib program may be undergoing revisions
in the future.
Ms. Moriarty also stated that Ms. Goyette believes that the local
medical directors should take on more responsibilities.
Action: None.
Re-evaluating Committees:
Discussion:
Mr. Hopkins feels that the regional committees need to become more
effective. He feels that if the need
for certain committees is no longer there they should be eliminated. Ms. Cushman feels that each committee should
have a mission statement and goals. She
also suggested that a list of all committees and chairs be included with the
minutes and put on the agenda for next meeting. Ms. Cushman made a suggestion that executive committee should
guide the regional committees and give them new ideas and guidelines. She feels we need to be proactive and
productive. Mr. Keefe asked what is
expected from Communications Committee regarding switching over to CMED because
people on the communications committee are beginning to question what is their
purpose. Ms. Moriarty stated that the
office has been trying to get accurate accounting data from CMED and are having
a hard time. Mr. Keefe believes that
the communications committee does not need to really consider the change over
right now, as we have other questions that need to be answered.
Action: WMEMS office
to put list of committees in minutes and add as an agenda item for next
meeting.
Adjourn:
Motion made to adjourn at 11:25 am. Motion approved unanimously.
Lisa
Herringshaw, Secretary, Recorder