VERMONT EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Nov. 11, 1999

The meeting was called to order at 1830 hours by acting Chair Tara Pacy. 16 out of 22 services were represented. Those in attendance were:

Pat Malone EMT - B Coordinator

Tara Pacy District Board Chair

Jake Allegrini District Board Vice Chair

Kevin Williams (R) Burlington Fire Department

Terry Francis (A) Burlington Fire Department

Ray Walker (R) Charlotte Rescue

Susan Blanton (A) Charlotte Rescue

Lolita Page (R) Colchester Rescue

Mike Cannon (A) Colchester Rescue

Gilbert Helmken (R) FAHC E.D. Nursing

Debbie Baron (R) Grand Isle Rescue

Lee Jones (A) IBM Rescue

Mary Griswold (R) Iroquois First Response

Larry Bohen (A) Lamoille Ambulance/FACT

Howie Rice (R) Malletts Bay Fire Department

Darren Adams (A) Milton Rescue

Lee Jones (A) Richmond Rescue

Jeff Curren (R) Shelburne Rescue

Maureen Leahy (A) So. Burlington Fire Department

Mary Gilbert (R) So. Hero Rescue

Jim Laskarzewski (A) St. Michael’s Rescue

Lisa Copping (R) UVM Rescue

Bill Clark (R) Vergennes Rescue

Jim Laskarzewski (R) VT Air Guard Fire Dept, Clerk

Terry Francis (V) MCI Committee Chair

Arliene Torre (V) Treasurer, District Board

Introductions:

None

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

Approval of Minutes

Motion to accept minutes of Oct 14, 1999 meeting by Maureen, second by Jake. Motion passed.

Announcements:

Next meeting will be held on Jan. 13^th , 2000 at 1830 hours at St. Michael’s College.

FAHC Case Review: Nov 16^th: review of "Redbird 1999"

PHTLS Course: Nov. 13^th & 14^th - POSTPONED until Feb. 19^th & 20^th , 2000

EMT-B Refresher Exam: Dec 11^th (Sat): start at 9:00 am (don’t arrive earlier). Written followed by practical. This is also the practical test date for the basic and intermediate classes. The class written exam will be on Dec 15^th. Pat polled the services in attendance for numbers of EMT’s recertifying. Three skill stations plus written. Approx. 30 practical evaluators will be needed. If you have people who have not received their recert paperwork, call the EMS office NOW.

Applications for EMT-B and EMT-I courses – are being accepted tonight. Pat asked for estimated numbers of students from each squad. Classes start on Jan 17^th, 2000.

New England Council Instructor Training Program – starts Jan 15^th & 16^th, details to follow. Applications and resumes should be sent to the District for forwarding to the State office.

Orientation for new ECA Program – will happen on Jan 15^th, 2000. Only offered to certified instructor coordinators.

Old Business:

Policy on course requirements for District approved certification or refresher courses: (Maureen, Kevin, Gil) Draft of proposed policy distributed by ad hoc committee, discussion ensued. Item numbered "2.)" – discussion revolved around "equivalent". Section reworded to "…shall be a recognized State of Vermont EMS instructor coordinator." Item numbered "3.)" "training program" The district does not have a program as described and the ad hoc committee asked why not. Opinion was that this course could be created. Validity of sentence questioned since list of people cannot be created when a course does not exist. Kevin pointed out that the first paragraph defines limits necessary before implementation of this policy, this item being one such limit. Ad hoc committee would like to see Practical Instructors (PI’s) with some sort of training prior to them teaching. The intent of the policy is to make district trainings more consistent. Ski asked for clarification – does the policy hinge on the creation of a list of PI’s – yes; he then asked how the PI’s for the EMT class were chosen – they were chosen by past experience and internships. Pat added he doesn’t see how this policy will correct anything, there are no apparent problems, this policy issue was created out of the recent transition course fiasco. Gil thinks the policy reflects somewhat back to problems with ECA courses, this is a proactive move to curtail problems with refresher, first responder, or ECA courses in the future; he sees no problem with current EMT courses as they are both very well controlled. Pat sees the ECA problem as bigger than this policy, he’s worried about "any" EMT being able to teach again. Gil sees the IC position as a solution, these people should know how to run a successful course. A practical-instructor-training program is an excellent idea and the committee is not sure if it has ever come up for discussion before. Current PI’s can probably be grandfathered. The Chair suggests reps take policy back to services for further discussion, training committee will vote on policy in January. Pat added the ECA course should be out soon and should be easy to implement – the transition to EMT by modules will be more difficult to implement. A brief discussion about the last sentence of section 3 after which Tara suggested the course medical advisor is added to the list of approvers. Kevin added that he wrote the opening paragraph as explanation and did not intend for it to be included in draft. Ray asked where the list of PI’s would come from. Pat offered to produce a draft list for the next meeting. Debbie added that her people cannot necessarily be on the list due to the need to cover their area, but she would like people to come to Grand Isle to help out with courses.
AD Hoc committee to coordinate District training calendars (Bill Clark): Bill reports he is not sure there is a huge interest for this calendar and he will be getting more aggressive in the seeking of information. He will be generating a survey and would appreciate if it is filled out and returned. Bill would also like copies of squad training schedules and wants to know if there is any interest in coordinating trainings for other services.
MCI Training update (Terry): Meeting on Nov. 16^th will be an open forum to discuss the drill and problem solve – what went well, what and how can we improve. If you went to the drill please come to the meeting. Burgess hall at 7 p.m. Notice went to fire chiefs and heavy rescue as well.

New Business:

NOTICE: Phone number in radio room has changed to 847-0454. Poison control number did not change.
No other new business

Unanimous motion to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 1925 hours.

Respectfully submitted,

Jim Laskarzewski, clerk

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Last updated: December 01, 1999