Western Mass Emergency
Medical Services, Inc.
Meeting:
P.I.E.R. Committee
Date: March 20, 2002
Place: McCallum Building Trusteee Room, CDH,
Northampton
Presiding: Michael Clapp, Chairperson
Called
to Order: 7:00 PM
Adjourned: 8:20 PM
Attendance:
Present
– Deborah
Clapp, Michael Clapp, Stephen Cote
Minutes: Accepted as read
Action
– None.
No
Old Business
Action – None.
None
Action - None
An
unexpected snowstorm prevented one member from attending and may have
contributed to other interested persons not coming. Mr. Cote commented that he and Mr. Chandler had made a pitch at
the Hampden County EMS meeting that morning…with out receiving much
enthusiasm. We concluded that we will
have to accept the idea that this is not perceived as a vital or
"sexy" function in EMS.
Nevertheless we remain committed to the idea that the service needs good
representation.
PIO
Training Course
We
decided that we will run a one day Public Information Officer's Training Course
in September (date to be finalized).
Discussion on the source or model for the course indicated that many
services who are not Fire derived may object to either of the courses from Fire
Academies. It was decided that we
should synthesize our own EMS based course, drawn from the best aspects of all
other courses we encounter. The course
should result in 6-8 hours of Con-Ed and reasonably prepare attendees to
function in the role of PIO for their service/community. This course will include lectures and/or
panel discussions with members of the press and PIO's from a variety of
situations (MCI's, Day to Day Ops, Bad Days/Scandals).
EMS
Week
With
EMS Week coming upon us we find ourselves somewhat at a loss for a project we
can reasonably complete. In discussion
we elected to offer as much material support as we can to those projects being
developed by the County EMS Committees.
In addition we can promote the general awareness of EMS by utilizing the
EMS Week kit from ACEP. This kit
includes sample "Proclamations" to be offered to municipal officials
in communities and some available graphics pertaining to EMS and the Week
itself. The Regional Office has in the
past utilized these annual kits; this would be a continuation of past practice.
Each
of us will contact one of the EMSCO's and inquire how we can help them with their
project. The feeling is that, without a
track record yet, PIER may be perceived as meddling if we try to impose any
Regional EMS Week project…of which we have none anyway.
EMS
Posters
On
a longer scale, Mr. Clapp put forward an idea for an EMS Poster project. This involves a series of original, high
quality, even "collectible" posters on the theme of EMS. He has a contact who may be interested and
capable of such a project; or at least able to advise.
We
envision full color, glossy, mountable posters which give a glimpse into some
facet of the service. Each poster will
have a clear tie to Western Mass although the appeal will extend beyond our
area. We feel that, if done
professionally and competently, these posters can be sold for a high enough fee
to support the project's continuation.
The
Posters can be used to promote the EMS Career in recruiting new personnel as
well as educating the public to the existence and reality of EMS. We will
State
P.I.E.R. Committee
The
"HeartSafe Community" Program will be launched April 2 at the EMS
Summit to be held in Waltham.
Expectation is that we will have a number of survivors of Cardiac Arrest
in which early defibrillation played a part.
A letter from Commissioner Koh will be sent to all Municipal
Administrators in Massachusetts announcing the opportunity to have their
community designated as a "HeartSafe Community". To achieve this status the community must
strive for and reach various goals. The
goals are varied by population and include Citizen CPR education, emplacement
of AED's, and upgrading of the community's EMS capabilities.
HeartSafe
designees will receive a nice plaque or parchment for display in town hall and
a couple of large metal signs which can be placed at the city limits to brag.
The
purpose of the program is to promote CPR education, get more AED's into
circulation, and to encourage communities to look forward toward some provision
of ALS.
Action:
Mr. Cote will continue to report on activities at the State level
Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn, seconded and approved unanimously.
Next meeting 3/20/02
Stephen
J. Cote, Recorder