Western
Mass Emergency Medical Services Committee, Inc.
Meeting:
Trauma System
Committee
Date: January 8, 2003
Place: Date Room, McCallum Building,
CDH, Northampton
Presiding: Mary Cushman, Chairman
Called
to Order: 8:50 am
Adjourned: 10:10 am
Attendance:
Present: Felicia Bycenski, Mary
Cushman, Chris Hopewell, Dawn Josefski, Jay Ober, Loribeth Sterling, Ted White
and Melanie Zamojski
Conflict of Interest Statement: The chairperson opened the meeting with a review of the conflict of interest statement. No one present had any conflicts to divulge for any items on the agenda
Members:
Welcome to Jay Ober from Holyoke Hospital. He is
replacing Diane Brunelle. The office was notified by Kara Sawa that Mercy is
currently discussing their representation at these meetings. Until the new
representative is identified, minutes will go to Diane Murphy, the ED Nurse
Manager.
Action:
The office will send meeting minutes and notices to Diane Murphy.
State
Trauma Meeting:
Ms.
Cushman attended the State Trauma meeting held in December. Currently the proposed Massachusetts State
Trauma Plan is being written into regulatory language. The state hopes to have
public hearings on the proposed plans sometime in January or February. Ms.
Cushman also handed out the summary reports for the proposed state plan,
including those written by Garthe Associates.
MCI
Update:
There was discussion by the committee regarding the four county MCI plans that are being developed into a common template by the MCI committee. Also mentioned was the Springfield Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) and what their activities in relation to bioterrorism planning. There is federal money dedicated to communication equipment, smallpox vaccines and other related topics. It is imperative that the trauma committee is aware of the other plans that are being developed throughout the region so that all are working in collaboration, with a minimum of duplication. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend the regional MCI meetings, they are held on the 4th Wednesday of the month in the evening (see http://wmems.org/meeting.htm). In the meantime the office will obtain a copy of the current MCI plans and distribute to the trauma members.
Action:
The office will send copies of MCI plans to the committee.
Legislative
Breakfast:
Ms. Cushman suggested that since we don’t have a finalized implementation plan, it would be useful to create a list of our issues/concerns to discuss with our legislative colleagues. It would also be a good idea to disseminate our information to the Regional Council members and obtain more input prior to a meeting with our representatives.
Action: The legislative breakfast
is on hold and an alternative forum for information sharing needs to be
developed or identified.
Request
for Trauma Funding Support:
Sample
letters were emailed to this group requesting support for trauma system funding
at the federal level. Ms. Cushman suggested that individuals and institutions
write to their senators and representatives in support of the requested federal
funding.
Action:
The office will send out addresses for western Massachusetts’s congressmen and
senators. Please review the mailing that was distributed via email and
formulate your response.
Region
One Trauma Triage:
The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing the current Region One Trauma Triage Plan. Changes were discussed and recommended. Please see Trauma Triage Plan, Draft2, attached.
Agenda for next meeting:
1.
Review Regional
MCI Plan development
2.
Continue to
work on Region One Trauma Triage Plan
3.
Begin to
compile issues for legislative discussion
Next Meeting:
Wednesday
February 12, 2003 at 8:45 am, Date Room, McCallum Building, Cooley Dickinson
Hospital
Adjourn:
Motion made to adjourn at 10:10 a.m. Motion approved unanimously.
Dawn Josefski,
Recorder