Western Mass Emergency
Medical Services Committee, Inc.
Meeting:
Physicians Council
Date: September 13, 2001
Place: East Wing 2 Conference Room, CDH,
Northampton
Presiding: Dr. Dinneen, Chairperson
Called
to Order: 9:05 am
Adjourned: 9:45 am
Attendance:
Present
Dr.
Conway, Dr. Dinneen, Dr. Fay, Dr. Gutterman, Dr. Hayden, Dr. Mausel, Dr.
Noonan, and Dr. Sutton
Minutes: A motion was made to accept minutes as written. This was seconded and approved unanimously.
Follow
up on Infusion Pumps:
Discussion
Ms.
Moriarty spoke to Abdullah Rehayem about the infusion pumps. OEMS states that it needs to go before the
State Medical Services committee in October.
Dr. Dinneen has agreed to write a letter to Mike Erdos (OEMS Medical
Director) prior to the committee meeting in October.
Action Dr. Dinneen to draft letter to Mike
Erdos.
Letter
to Non-Represented Hospitals:
Discussion
Ms.
Josefski drafted a letter to be sent to Dr. Gerstein, Dr. Sabatelli and Dr.
Donovan regarding a lack of
representation from Mary Lane, Fairview, and North Adams Hospitals
respectively. Attending this meeting
was Dr. Gutterman from Mary Lane Hospital, and it was agreed that the letters
would be sent only to Fairview and North Adams Hospitals. Included with the letter, there would also
be a copy of the schedule for upcoming meetings and their locations.
Action WMEMS office to send out these letters.
Proposed
Protocol Changes:
Discussion
The
state has approved protocols changes due to come out in October with a November
1,2001 implementation date.
Action None
Action WMEMS office to
make the changes to the LAPSS Screen, add it to the region 1 Policy and
Procedure Manual and send it to services.
Action None
Discussion
Dr. Sutton was curious if we were adding meds (such as Terbutaline) that others in the state dont use? Ms. Moriarty stated that other regions have this med included in their Regional list. Dr. Sutton asked if we were going to have to train our personnel to use this, and it was suggested that this could be part of the training at the Paramedic Optional Skills Class in November.
{Note: Upon review of these minutes the following point should be mentioned; it is the responsibility of the individual ALS services and their medical control to ensure that personnel are trained in any new medications or procedures.}
An
additional note: an ambulance service can use the form of medication that is
given to them by the hospital pharmacies.
Action None
Discussion
Ms.
Moriarty reports that the office is not aware of any major issues. The last
diversion meeting that was held was in the beginning of summer.
Generally,
there have been 20-30 hours a month of hospitals on diversion. Dr. Mausel reports that Wing has had a fair
amount of diversions.
The
diversion website is in operation for all five regions. {The address is: http://hd.dph.state.ma.us/login.asp The login is: regionview and the password is
cmed }. Ms. Moriarty also reported
that DPH should have sent something out to all services regarding this site.
Ms.
Moriarty is going to be in touch with all of the CMEDs to be sure that they are
notifying hospitals that there is diversion.
It was noted that Mary Lane should be contacting Worcester CMED and
Springfield CMED.
Dr.
Conway told the group about an incident in regards to a woman in labor that
occurred at CDH while they were on diversion.
He informed the group that had the ambulance contacted CDH with the
circumstances, this woman, who had all of her prenatal care at CDH, would have
been pushed through the ER into the maternity ward.
Ms.
Moriarty also stated that OEMS wants all Regions to discuss their own diversion
protocols to differentiate who should be diverted and under what
circumstances. This committee feels
that they do not want any changes made to our protocols.
Action Ms. Moriarty to
contact the CMEDs to be sure they are informing services and hospitals about
ongoing diversion.
Goshen
Fire Department P/B Waiver Renewal:
Discussion
Goshen
Fire Department received their initial waiver in 1997. They currently have 7
paramedics on their roster with an additional person in training. After some
discussion a motion was made to recommend their P/B Waiver Renewal to Regional
Council. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously.
Action Dr. Dinneen to recommend
this waiver at Regional Council.
North
Adams Ambulance P/B Waiver Renewal:
Discussion
North
Adams Ambulance received their initial waiver in 1997. Since January 2000, they
have been providing coverage 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. After some discussion it was decided that we
would recommend this waiver at Regional Council, but it will not be moved until
the office receive a letter from the medical director. This was seconded and
approved unanimously.
Action Dr. Dinneen to recommend
this waiver at Regional Council.
Paramedics
need to show their Medical Directors that they know how use their ambulances
12- Lead EKG machines. Springfield College and Greenfield Community College are
running 12- Lead EKG training classes.
Action None
Next
Meeting:
Discussion
The
next meeting will be held on October 11, 2001 at 9:00 am. This meeting will be held in East Wing 2
Conference Room.
Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn at 9:45 am. This motion was seconded
and approved unanimously.
Lisa
Herringshaw, Secretary, Recorder