Western Mass Emergency Medical Services Committee, Inc.

Meeting: Executive Committee

Date: September 5, 2002

Place: McCallum Building Living Room, CDH, Northampton

Presiding: Robert Hopkins

Called to Order: 10:07 a.m.

Adjourned: 11:37 a.m.

Attendance:

Present - Brian Andrews, Dr. Conway, Mary Cushman, Robert Hopkins, Dana Johnson, Steve Manchino, Linda Moriarty, and Jeff Rawson

Present by Proxy – Dan Harrington

Absent – Dave Keefe

Guests – Steve Cote, Lisa Herringshaw, and Dawn Josefski

Conflict of Interest Statement: The president opened the meeting with a conflict of interest statement. No one present had any conflicts to divulge for any items on the agenda.

Minutes: A motion was made to accept minutes as written. Mr. Hopkins requested that a correction to the May minutes be made to reflect that Mr. Andrews was presiding; and not himself. This correction was agreed upon, and with the above changes noted, the minutes were seconded and approved unanimously.

Old Business

WMEMS Job Description Templates:

Discussion –

Ms. Josefski reports that all of the recommended changes were made to the templates. The final copies have been put in the policy manual book. A motion was made to accept these templates as completed. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Action – None.

WMEMS Personnel Policies:

Discussion –

Mr. Andrews and Ms. Josefski report that they have looked over these policies, and Ms. Josefski informed Mr.Andrews that she now has a firm understanding of these concepts and how things should work. Ms. Moriarty also added that the other employees are also clear on policies. With this, a motion was made to leave the policies as they are. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Action – None.

CMED/Diversion Website:

Discussion –

Mr. Cote reports that there has been no progress with the installation of phone lines for the internet access for CMED. Mr. Cote added that Mr. Controvitch has called the Springfield Treasurer’s Office and explained the whole situation to them. The treasurer’s office knew nothing about this project. Ms. Moriarty will contact the chairman of the EMS Commission and ask for the commissions’ assistance to move this project along. Mr. Andrews informed the council that the Hampden East Project is being held up while awaiting the phone lines at CMED. Mr. Andrews also asked if Ms. Moriarty could pursue the back-up radio for Baystate Medical Center. Ms. Moriarty agreed on checking with the status of this project.

Mr. Andrews asked Mr. Manchino if he ever received a financial statement from CMED. Mr. Manchino reports that he received a hand-typed document from Mr. Controvitch with some figures on it, but the figures don’t appear to add up. He would like an official audited financial statement that shows income coming in, from services, etc., expenses that have been paid out, and current balances. Ms. Moriarty stated that we (WMEMS) have never asked for an official financial statement, but there is a User’s Group that has the ability to ask for one. Mr. Andrews asked if the CMED User’s Group is under our direction. Ms. Moriarty states that they are not.

Mr. Andrews is also concerned that there appears to be issues with the implementation of tasks at CMED that Mr. Cote has asked of them. Mr. Cote gets the impression from CMED, that they are not required to meet any of our requests. Mr. Andrews thought that we could inform them that they could be pulled out of their location, and AMR could get charged for every patch that they require to contact the hospitals. Maybe this would make them open up their eyes. Mr. Andrews thought that if we could utilize the CMED Users Group, they could help motivate CMED. Ms. Moriarty is going to speak with Ed (Users Group chairman) about setting up a meeting. Also, she is going to contact Dr. Santoro as a member of the EMS Commission, and tell him that we have some issues that need to be worked on.

Ms. Moriarty asked Mr. Manchino how he was able to come up with his own figures of payments for patches to CMED. Mr. Manchino responded that he called all of the services and asked for approximate figures paid to the city from each service. Ms. Cushman asked if the Region has made any decision as to whether they are going to take over CMED. Ms. Moriarty reports that this has been put on the back-burner due to other projects. Mr. Andrews added that this is one reason why it would be beneficial for this committee to receive an audited financial statement to see what the costs are for this system. Mr. Johnson added that it would be vital that we know how many patches were made for AMR, so we can have a clearer picture of the costs. Ms. Moriarty stated that we need to make a direct request to the EMS Commission stating exactly what is needed from the city in this financial statement. Ms. Moriarty and Mr. Cote will work on this request and run it by Mr. Andrews before it is submitted.

Action – Motion to request financial statement moved to new business.

Ms. Moriarty to check on status of back-up radio at Baystate.

Ms. Moriarty to set up CMED Users Group Meeting.

Ms. Moriarty to contact Dr. Santoro, re:EMS Commission to inform them of our issues

with CMED.

Ms. Moriarty and Mr. Cote to draft a letter regarding financial statements from

CMED.

Update on Hospital Diversion:

Discussion –

Mr. Cote reports that a record was broken for the month of August with 43 hours of diversion through the region. Ms. Cushman asked how these figures compare to the other regions. Mr. Cote responded that Region 1 is still significantly lower than the rest of the state.

Action – None.

New Business

Baystate Neurosurgical Coverage:

Discussion –

Mr. Hopkins reports that it has been brought to the attention of the office that there have been some issues with coverage. Ms. Cushman reports that 1 physician passed away and 1 physician found other employment, therefore they are down by two doctors. Ms. Moriarty added that Mr. Hopkins sent a letter to Dr. Lee and Dr. Wait. In the mean time, the office received a letter from Dr. Henneman. Ms. Moriarty called Dr. Santoro, and he stated that the letter from Dr. Henneman was sent after encouragement from Dr. Santoro about letting the affected services and organizations know about this lack of personnel. Dr. Lee has contacted our office to let us know that he had received our letter, and asked for some guidance as to how to address the services about this issue. Ms. Moriarty stated that she wanted to approach this council first to get their input and then would call him back. Ms. Moriarty believes that once they put out a schedule that notes any lack of coverage, the services should then be notified. Ms. Cushman and Dr. Santoro believe that their coverage problems should be eliminated in January as they have hired new personnel. Ms. Moriarty believes that the outlying communities; such as Amherst Fire Dept., or services in Berkshire County need to know when there is no coverage. These other services are going to have to make numerous phone calls to find out where to take their trauma patients. Mr. Johnson is not sure that all of the service directors need to know this information, but feels that the helicopter services should be notified and then they can take the patient where they need to go. Ms. Moriarty has gotten a list of all of the services that will be notified and she will be sure that all of the helicopter services are on this list. Ms. Moriarty will also relay to the physicians that there needs to be more communication between all parties.

Action – Ms. Moriarty to contact Dr. Lee re: contacting services.

Ms. Moriarty to be sure that helicopter services are added to contact list.

Moving the WMEMS Office:

Discussion –

Mr. Hopkins reports that the office is going to be moved to Industrial Drive in Northampton, as CDH is moving administrative offices to the WMEMS space. Ms. Moriarty and Ms. Josefski have met with the “landlord” of the building at Industrial Drive and it appears that we will be in cubicles. Our space is going to be fairly limited, but the hospital has assured us that they will move us and have all the phones installed at their expense. Ms. Moriarty added that she is talking to Mr. Clark Fenn at Holyoke Hospital, and he casually mentioned that if the move does not work out, to give him a call.

Due to the potential move, we have an issue with Regional Council and Physician’s Council meetings in October. These meetings will be held at the South Deerfield Fire Station on Routes 5&10 in South Deerfield.

Action – WMEMS to continue to update committee on our move to Industrial Drive.

Update on Proposed Regulation Changes:

Discussion –

Ms. Moriarty reports that a Public Hearing has been scheduled in our area on October 1, 2002 at the Department of Public Health on Service Center Road in Northampton. Written testimony can be sent directly to OEMS.

Ms. Moriarty stated that most of the startling changes are in the dispatch, treat, and transport section. She believes that this change could actually delay treatment.

Mr. Andrews stated that this regulation is going to leave the volunteer in a bad situation. If they are unable to sign on immediately, a mutual aid ambulance will be toned. Mr. Johnson added that for this area “Immediate” is ridiculous. This needs to be defined, because it often takes some time to get to the stations in Western Mass. Ms. Moriarty added that it may be necessary to activate a scheduling system in the services. Mr. Johnson stated that this has been tried before, and does not work well in some services.

Action – Ms. Josefski to post public hearing date on the WMEMS website.

EMS Worker/Victim Relief Fund:

Discussion –

Ms. Josefski reported that there is a service charge every month the balance is below $200. Therefore, a motion was made to transfer $200.00 to this fund from our savings account. This was seconded and approved unanimously.

Action – Ms. Josefski to transfer money to account.

Request for Official Financial Statements:

Discussion –

Dr. Conway made a motion that Executive Council requests an official audit of CMED for the last three years. Also, Ms. Moriarty and Mr. Cote will draft a letter to the EMS Commission stating the reasons for this request and have Mr. Hopkins sign it. This motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Action – Ms. Moriarty and Mr. Cote to draft this letter, run it by Mr. Andrews, then get Mr.

Hopkins signature.

The Big E:

Discussion –

Ms. Herringshaw reports that we still have some vacant shifts. Dr. Conway would like Ms. Herringshaw to contact Ms. Rhoades and have her hang a flyer up in the Nurses Lounge. Mr. Andrews asked if there would be power point access for the full duration of the Big E. Mr. Cote reported that there would be a computer at the booth this year.

Action – WMEMS office to continue scheduling for the Big E.

Salary Review:

Discussion –

Mr. Hopkins reported that employee Salary Review will completed in October. Ms. Josefski will utilize the template that Mr. Andrews sent regarding employee evaluations.

Ms. Moriarty added that OEMS has not passed any budget cuts onto us as of yet. There will be a Regional Directors meeting with OEMS soon, and they will map out all of the funding.

Action – WMEMS office to perform employee evaluations for the October meeting.

FYI:

Discussion –

Ms. Moriarty stated that she is not sure where EMS stands in the SATURN Program.

She also reports that the decontamination trailers have started to be delivered.

Mr. Andrews asked if the Regional MCI committee has still been meeting. Ms. Moriarty reported that it is going to be held on September 25, at 7:00 p.m. at CDH. Anyone is invited to attend. Mr. Andrews would like to work on a call list to begin to establish what and how much equipment is available in Region 1 that could be moved across the state is necessary. Ms. Josefski asked Mr. Andrews if he had a specific list of items that he would include. Mr. Andrews responded that he would want to know about extra ambulances, personnel (that could go in state/out of state), and equipment such as generators, decon equipment, and updated phone numbers of services. Ms. Moriarty added that perhaps a sub-committee could be appointed to address this project specifically. Also, Ms. Moriarty wondered about changing the time of the MCI committee meeting, and perhaps they could get a larger turn out. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Hopkins agreed with this. Ms. Moriarty will check into it.

Ms. Cushman passed out a flyer for the upcoming Trauma Conference.

Mr. Cote informed the committee that the HeartSafe Community packets have gone out to all communities in Region 1. The office has received one application from Bernardston that appears to fit the criteria.

Next Meeting:

The next meeting will be held on October 3, 2002 at 10:00 am. in the McCallum Building Living Room.

Adjourn: At 11:37 a.m. a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

Lisa Herringshaw, Recorder