Training Committee Minutes from 10 May 2001

Chair Greg Thweatt called the meeting to order at 1832 hours. 20 people were in attendance representing 4 District posts and 12 out of 23 services. Those in attendance were:

Introductions:  None

Review Agenda: The chair briefly reviewed the agenda for the meeting.

Approval of Minutes: Motion to accept minutes of April 12, 2001 meeting by Kathy Karg, second by Jim Kellogg.  Amend minutes to include Robby Rix, representative for UVM and Jim Kellogg alternate for EJFD as present. Correct Jon Fenimore as representing Vergennes, not Williston.   Motion passed as amended.

Announcements:

· Next meeting will be held on June 14, 2001 at 1830 hours. Location may be different due to time limit set by St. Michael's; must be out by 2100 hrs.  Issue will be discussed further at Board meeting. 
Clerk note: meeting will be at St. Michael's.

· FAHC Case Review: May 15th in Austin Auditorium at 1900 hrs. Austin is between Shepardson and Baird. Topic is lethal drug overdoses.

Approved Courses:

First Responder Course (@ MBFD) Thirteen or fourteen people tested. A few failed the practical stations and retesting will be scheduled in June.  Christi still has the course evaluations, they need to come to the meeting and be handed to Greg.  Essex Junction is considering a course in mid-Summer.

Modules 1 & 2 (Pat): Only 6 people enrolled need six more tonight or course will be cancelled. No other potential students mentioned by those present.  Kate suggests training officers ask potential students if course schedule change would help. It was mentioned that many first responders are going directly to the EMT-B course. Pat asked reps to call him directly with names of potential students and he would try to put together a course with new dates prior to the next meeting. Those who have recently completed the Mallets Bay course may be eligible to take the modules. Pat will confirm with the State. Chris McCarthy, the districts newest IC, will be working with Kate on the course.

EMT Basic (Pat): Winter Course finished last night. Twenty-eight tested from Winter course plus one from previous course. Lost two in last two weeks due to certification issues. Thanks to all those who helped with the testing, it made for a quick night. All the students passed the class, there is no preliminary info from the State.

Summer Course has 16-18 people signed up and will be starting next Wednesday at Spear St location.

Fall Course waiting list has begun with non-affiliates. Thirty-six spots available for district. It is helpful for a service to claim a student as an affiliate to enroll in the course, reserves the service's spot. Pat prefers to have the training officer call to enroll students as this keeps everyone on the same page as to who is enrolled.

EMT Intermediate (Greg): Winter course had 24 test last night. No issues from the instructors.  Fall course is half full as of tonight, all district people. Summer Basic course students may not be eligible to take Fall "I" course due to timeline in receiving results. Students need to be a Basic coming into the course unless course is not full. A daytime course is being discussed. Pat mentioned that the Summer Basic course would end a month earlier than in the past so the students may have a chance to enroll in the Intermediate class. Pat also clarified that EMS courses listed in UVM course guide will happen only after District approval and that all listings are made following UVM registrar timelines, not the District's.

Recertification testing in Middlebury on the morning of May 12th. Seven people from District 7 came to help out last night.  Southern part of State is testing later in May and in early June.

· EMS Picnic from 11 am to 2 pm on the 27th of May at the Fleming museum yard. Notices will be going out.

· Telehealth videoconference on Thursday May 24th at 1900 hrs at Spear St classroom. Doctor Rogers will be discussing the results of his project and holding Q & A on trauma. This is a CE credit opportunity that is resulting in standing room only classrooms in upstate NY and Central VT. Very few are taking advantage of this opportunity in District 3. Pat invites Training officers to join him prior to the videoconference at 1800 hrs for pizza and soda to experience this event. Please RSVP to Pat.

· Charlotte will be "wetting down" their new station on 12 May from 10-2 with a BBQ. RSVP to the station.

Old Business:

First responder/ECA & EMT courses survey: Distributed results from survey conducted last Winter. Report also sent out on listserver. The limited responses provide a limited view of issues. Brian suggests sending out another survey late in the year to those who will be completing first responder courses this year. A narrower target audience may provide better results.

Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Any feedback from packet? Next meeting will be May 16th, 1600 hrs at SBFD station #1. Second phase will be working with AHA to build a "community assessment". Debbie has received feedback that it is good that the District is looking at this with AHA. If you meet a PAD in the field; remove the PAD, use your AED and start protocol from the beginning. If patches match, can use them but need to start protocol from beginning. AHA wants to build a package to send to towns to evaluate places that PAD may be helpful, they are looking for help from district. Eventually this will expand to the State.  

Starting in July, BLS Healthcare Provider courses will be teaching AED, BVM, and crichoid pressure. This will have an impact on first responder and EMT courses. Pat has had a preliminary discussion with the State. Recerts will need to add these skills. AHA has no bridge course to address these changes. Services will probably have to run members through whole course rather than recert course. Red Cross offers an equivalent course. Suggest you check with your CPR instructors or training center to see what needs to be done. Fall EMT-B course entrants and those recertifying in the Fall will need to have the new CPR skills.  There is a conflict between the State AED protocol and the AHA lesson on AED concerning the earliest age at which an AED can be used, 8 or 12 years old.

New Business:

Future topics?? Greg would like to dedicate some of upcoming meetings to training issues - squad training topics, record keeping, stuff that training officers need. Debbie suggests that the technology advances in the District may allow more services to take advantage of videoconferencing closer to home. Greg is still working with Mike O'Keefe on the issue of securing CE credits on-line. Kate suggests MCI trainings. Small classes/ drills to address ICS, job descriptions, plans, etc. Break down the big disaster into small bites. Greg would like other suggestions sent to him or posted to the listserver for discussion. 

Motion to adjourn by Kathy Karg, second by Jim Kellogg. Meeting adjourned at

1934 hours.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Laskarzewski, clerk

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Last updated: May 12, 2001