Wisconsin EMS Association
Board of Directors Meeting
Present: Allen, Barker, Bennett, Hornby, Hunjadi, McCarrier, Meeker, TeStroete
Notified Absent: Schilder
Called to order by President Meeker at 12:00 PM.
Motion by TeStroete second by Allen to approve the July 2005 minutes as written. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.
President: Nothing
Vice President: Nothing
Executive Director: Financial and membership information was provided to Board members in their packets. Current gross income through the end of the 3rd quarter is $603,075. Membership is currently at 6,919. New memberships have slowed when compared with the past three years where growth has averaged 800 new members each year. Hunjadi reported that plans continue to move forward slowly on the new building design. The concept and design has been changed to allow for a less commercial structure and without a lower level or basement. Instead, additional floor space is included on the main floor. The plans have been submitted to several additional builders for price quotes. The revised time table is to push back the potential for construction to spring 2006. Due to still unknown building pricing the land purchase has not yet been completed but the verbal intent is still in place with the land owner, who will come to us should any other offers present themselves. No additional staffing changes have been made. A temporary staff person has been identified for conference data entry. There currently is not enough work to support a part-time assistant and a full-time assistant on the staff. It is likely we will continue through the conference with current staffing levels and the temporary staff member for data entry.
Sales/Public Relations Director A written report was provided to the Board from Covelli. Culvers Restaurants have again agreed to provide sundae certificates for the 2006 membership renewals and new members. This is the third consecutive year that they have provided either sundae or waffle cone certificates. Based on early bookings for flights to the conference, Midwest Airlines is considering providing either a 10% discount coupon to all members or a discount code for web site bookings. These would be good on the lowest price obtained on any Midwest Airlines flight. Covelli will continue to work on the deal. Cellular telephone contracts are about to end. The item will be deferred to old business.
Conference: Meeker reported on several late changes with the conference including the addition of a seventh track during Friday and Saturday and the Saturday General Session on hurricane Katrina. 35,000 brochures are currently being printed with 30,500 scheduled for mailing on October 17, 2005. There was a slight delay in finalizing the line-up and producing the brochures due to the last minute addition of a seventh track and the fire pre-conference with the Milwaukee Fire Academy.
Cruise: Hunjadi provided information from Magic Carpet Travel regarding an Alaska cruise for 2006. Currently, only Holland America has provided a firm proposal. The other cruise lines, including the Association’s preferred line of Royal Caribbean, were unwilling to provide more than 49 cabins. Most of the problem is due to the limited number of sailings and ships and the fact that demand currently outpaces supply. Based on all of the concerns and the current status, Board members are somewhat reluctant to move forward with Alaska for 2006. Motion by TeStroete second by Bennett to postpone an Alaska cruise until 2008 due to lack of proposals. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried. Hunjadi provided preliminary information for a potential 2007 cruise to the Caribbean. The Wisconsin EMS Cruise has sailed the Western Caribbean twice and the Eastern once. He suggests we consider the Southern Caribbean for 2007 in order to provide new ports of call. This is also supported by the cruise survey following the last cruise. The cost for the Southern Caribbean is typically less than Eastern or Western. However, flights to San Juan are typically $100-$200 more than to Florida. The result is a cruise in the same price range. The 2007 schedule should be released later this month. The Carnival Destiny is likely the best choice although other cruise lines will be explored. The details will have to be worked out by the end of November in order to kick off the cruise promotion by the first of the year. Motion by TeStroete to look at the Southern Caribbean from San Juan for 2007, second by Teale. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Bylaw Changes Workgroup: Board members were unsure of who was supposed to be working on potential bylaw changes. Nothing was ready for presentation to the Board. Barker and Hornby have agreed to work on the project for presentation to the Board at the January meeting.
National and Wisconsin Scopes of Practice: Hunjadi reported that the national scope of practice final draft has been released with very few changes from the previous draft. Far fewer responses were received versus the first draft. The Wisconsin scope of practice is being finalized by the state EMS office. It centers largely on what is already defined either in statute or administrative rule. The EMS Advisory Board, Physician Advisory Committee, and State EMS Office have incorporated most of the items from the Wisconsin EMS Association position statement into the latest draft. It appears that most of the items the Association requested to be revisited have been. There are a few issues that remain of concern related to current administrative rule. The largest concern from WEMSA Board members is the lack of any medication list at the Paramedic level. The State EMS Office is following what they call a “box theory” for each of the levels where the level is highly defined. However, this is not the case at the paramedic level. The reason given is that administrative rule does not specify medications at this level. However, the case is the same at the Intermediate level. Further, administrative rules require that medications be approved by the various advisory bodies and state medical director. It appears that this is not being followed in many cases. Some skills are defined in administrative rule but are not allowed in the proposed scope of practice without additional training and specific approval. The issue was discussed at length and is of high concern to the WEMSA Board. Motion by Hornby that clarification is made to the Wisconsin Scope of Practice for minimum or maximum medications at the paramedic level and that administrative rule is followed with regard to adding drugs and the approval of procedures. Future EMS office policies and administrative rules should maintain consistency across all levels of provider with regard to medications and skills. Second by Allen. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Project USEMSA Position Statement: Covelli was directed to create a position statement on behalf of the Board of Directors related to creating a national EMS administration. He has concern over the lack of specifying a wing of government to house the proposed administration. Position statements from other organizations have specified a location, although many do not agree on the same location. The Board held additional discussion and at the current time do not feel that it is prudent to specify a location. The position statement should be created as decided at the July meeting.
NAEMT Affiliation: Meeker reported on his attendance at the NAEMT annual meeting just days prior to hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The NAEMT is currently working on several potential ideas for affiliation of state organizations and inclusion of a representative on their Board of Governors. Currently none of these proposals have been completed or implemented. The item will be tabled until such time as the NAEMT implements these changes.
Cellular Telephone Group Buying: The contracts for cellular telephone service are about to end. Covelli provided a written overview of the situation. Hunjadi presented an overview of the problems encountered with these companies including constantly changing representatives. He estimates that less than 10% of WEMSA members are currently taking advantage of the discounts. Covelli would like to see a change to a straight percentage discount if the plans are to continue. Following discussion Board members did not have a large stance on the issue and will defer the decision to Hunjadi and Covelli. If possible, they would like to see the cellular telephone plans continue for those members who chose to use them. However, if they can’t be beneficial for members they should be pulled from the Group Buying Program.
NEW BUSINESS
Joe Covelli Resignation: Covelli has submitted a letter of resignation from the Board of Directors following the July meeting. He feels that fulfilling roles as both a staff member and board member carry a larger conflict of interest than he initially anticipated. Motion by McCarrier second by Allen to accept Covelli’s resignation. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Physician Advisory Committee Concerns: Concerns with the productivity and accomplishments of both the Physician Advisory Committee and State EMS Medical Director continue. The WEMSA Executive Board has previously discussed these concerns with Dan Williams and Meg Taylor of DHFS. Hornby has been attending PAC meetings and reported on multiple items that seem to have been in progress for several years without ever coming to completion. Motion by Teale that we request a list of accomplishments from the State EMS Office providing details of PAC, State Medical Director, and STAC accomplishments over the last 12 months for potential publication in EMS Professionals. Second by Hornby. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Mandated Driver Training: Following the fatal accident in Waukesha earlier this year, activity has started regarding the potential to require driver training for all EMTs in Wisconsin. Hunjadi has provided information to the news media and has discussed the topic with several legislators including the state senator of the husband of the lady killed in Waukesha. Currently the accident rate in Wisconsin is approximately one ambulance crash for every 42,000 ambulance transports. There have been only two fatal accidents in ten years. Concern centers around the need to improve an already good driving record versus the hardship, cost and time it will take to train thousands of EMS providers. Discussion also included services setting their own standards and looking at their use of lights and siren and developing or revising their emergency driving protocols. Motion by Teale that WEMSA support the training of EMS providers in emergency vehicle operations but feels that it is the responsibility of the individual ambulance service provider to determine what level of training is appropriate for their service in concert with other policies and procedures of the service. Second by Bennett. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried. Hunjadi will create a position statement for Board approval.
2006 Premium Item: Hunjadi suggests the association return to the Members Pharmacology and Information Guide for the 2006 premium item. The last time these guides were provided was 2003. The guides have been one of the most popular membership items from the Association. Motion by Barker second by McCarrier to approve the Members Pharmacology and Information Guide as the 2006 premium item. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Meeting schedule: Board members decided to continue the current schedule of four board meetings per year held on the second Sunday of the month for 2006. The schedule is set as January 8 in Madison, April 9 in Wisconsin Dells, July 9 in Stevens Point, and October 8 in Milwaukee with possible strategic planning on October 7. All meetings are 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM.
Items from Dane County EMS: Mark Bennett raised several items brought to him from the members of Dane County EMS. Concern regarding current administrative rule or statute allowing for ambulance services to provide care outside of their service area or mutual aid area in times of large scale incidents or disasters. Concern also regarding the legality or ability of an ambulance to transport to a free standing clinic in place of an emergency room. Hunjadi provided current information on both items. Motion by Bennett that WEMSA follow through with investigation of changes to administrative rule and/or statute to facilitate ambulance transport to free standing clinics. Second by TeStroete. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
PDA Software for Group Buying: Teale raised the question on the possibility to provide various PDA software in the Group Buying Program. This could include price breaks on electronic pharmacology guides, protocol programs, etc. The items will be considered for the Group Buying Program.
Motion by Allen second by TeStroete to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 3:15 PM.