Called to order 12:00 Noon

Present: Meeker, Hunjadi, Kurtz, Zurbuchen, Weir, McCarrier, and TeStroete
Notified Absent: Schilder, Hellman-Bulle, Teale, Merrill, Madigan, and Menzel
Absent Without 48-hr notice: Victorson

Secondary Quorum provisions invoked by President Kurtz due to lack of sitting board members.

Review of March 1998 minutes. Motion by Meeker second by Zurbuchen to approve the minutes. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried

Officer action items

President: Dan Kurtz was contacted by Peggy Beuthin regarding seatbelt legislation. No further information was forwarded so no action can be taken at this time.

Executive Manager: Hunjadi reports that the number of service members has dropped slightly. In most of the cases, repeated attempts at contacting the service failed. Kutz-AMR, Baraboo, Washburn are three examples of services that have not renewed with no reasons given. Efforts to gain new service members are underway and include personal letters to the service.

The question was posed should we sell merchandise through use of a sell sheet with membership information? Consensus was to try this method to see how many members take advantage of it, and how much additional work it creates with filling and shipping orders.

Report of current financial status was provided in writing to board members present.

Conference: Meeker reported on the recent trip he and Hunjadi made to Nashville to see speakers for the 1999 conference. Plans at this time are to have another four-day conference: Management and a full day basic EKG class on Wednesday; Trauma Assessment and EMS incident command on Thursday; and the typical 36 classes over Friday and Saturday. An advanced notice to members and past participants will be mailed by the Grand Milwaukee Hotel and The Wisconsin EMS Association advising of potential room availability and urging them to make room reservations early. Meeker thanked TeStroete for his past involvement with the exhibit hall over the past many years. Larry will no longer be handling exhibits. The position remains open at this time.

Legislative/Lobbyist: Activity has slowed due to the end of the legislative session. Short discussion on the background checks of EMTs that will become mandatory in October. No action taken.

OLD BUSINESS:

One Paramedic Project: We have not yet been able to coordinate a meeting with Wisconsin Dells. The goal remains to identify an ambulance service in Wisconsin willing to pilot test one paramedic. Discussion was held on the new EMT-P and EMT-I curriculum that is about to be released. It appears there has been little official work done to date by the EMS Board or the EMS Section on reviewing this curriculum. Motion by Meeker, second by McCarrier to draft a position letter to the EMS Board and the EMS Section to call for a comprehensive, timely review, of both the EMT-P and EMT-I national standard curriculum as soon as they are officially released by NHTSA. All in favor. None opposed. Hunjadi to draft statement for Executive Board approval.

Meeting with EMS Office: Kurtz, Meeker and Hunjadi met with Jon Morgan of the state EMS office to discuss current and future EMS issues. Impetus of the meeting was to promote general communication and discussion between the EMS Association and the EMS Office. Plans are to continue these types of meetings several times in each year.

Legislative Direction: Totals from the voting of board members was presented. The top four items in order are: 1. Funding for all EMS training. 2. Public Service Defibrillation, 3. Change all fire fighter legislation to include EMS. 4. Require First Responder certification. The concusses is to move forward with Forbes, Morgan, and Szymanski to obtain information on which of the four selected items have the greatest potential for success and which should be worked on for the next legislative sessions.

Bylaws Change: Proposed changes to Section 3.1 of the by laws was presented. No greater than three Board of Directors may be affiliated with or employed by the same ambulance service, fire department, hospital, labor union, teaching institution or any other organized group substantially related to the field of emergency medical services. Motion by Meeker, Second by Zurbuchen to approve bylaws change with the understanding that the spirit of the changes are not intended to include members of the National Registry, State-wide Technical College System or other EMS organizations and EMS groups that large numbers of Wisconsin EMS personnel may affiliate with from time to time, exclusive of lobbying organizations or labor unions. All in favor. None opposed. Motion carried.

NEW BUSINESS

Conference Budget: The 1999 conference budget was distributed to members for review. Motion by Zurbuchen, second by McCarrier to approve budget as presented. All in favor. None opposed.

Ambulance Service Poster: Motion by Meeker second by Weir to produce an up-dated version of the Wisconsin ambulance service poster.

Camera: Motion by Meeker, second by McCarrier to approve up to $1,000 for an Olympus D-500L digital camera, along with needed accessories. A few board members would check pricing prior to purchase. All in favor. None opposed.

Future Purchases: Hunjadi spoke briefly of replacing the laptop computer. Since this computer sees more use near the conference, and since the depreciation on a computer is so fast, that replacement of the laptop should be done when more use can be made of it. Hunjadi is also continuing to watch the market of color laser printers. Many prices are below $4,000 and continue to fall from the average $7,500 only 18 months ago. No action taken at this time.

Executive Manager Review: Kurtz reported on the completed evaluation of the Executive Manager. Information obtained from outside sources including State EMS Office and EMS Board members was positive. They report that the Association and its Executive Manager are respected. Specific areas were evaluated. Kurtz brought forth the opinion that the Executive Board is pleased with the Executive Manager's performance. Kurtz had prepared written information that was not available at the meeting. Kurtz will forward the written information to the members of the Board. The Executive Manager's contract reads "On an annual basis prior to the anniversary date of the contract the Association Executive Board will meet with the Executive Manager to review performance of the past years services. Any recommended amendments to this contract or special compensation, will be forwarded to the Association Board in writing, for review and possible approval at its April meeting." Kurtz brought forth the recommendation that the Association offer a bonus of $2,500 as special compensation. Motion by Zurbuchen, second by Weir to offer $2,500 bonus. 6 in favor. 1 Abstain.

Election: Due to lack of an official quorum, no election could be held.

Attendance: Board members that were able to attend the March 15 meeting that was cancelled will not be penalized for not attending this meeting. Concern was also voiced over attendance at board meetings with several board members having missed the past three and four meetings. Hunjadi is directed to provide an attendance roster for the past two to three years to all board members to be used in the continued evaluation of commitment and attendance by board members.

Conference Expenses: Zurbuchen brought forth the question of Board members receiving compensated hotel rooms for the conference. Meeker and Kurtz suggested that Board members could decide whether they wanted to receive free Friday - Saturday tuition or hotel reimbursement at the same amount. Meeker and Hunjadi to bring recommendations to the Executive Board and to the full board in September.

Motion to adjourn by Zurbuchen second by McCarrier to adjourn the meeting at 3:37 PM. All in favor. None opposed.

Action Items:

Curriculum Position Statement - Hunjadi
One Paramedic Pilot - Meeker
Executive Manager's Review - Kurtz
Conference Reimbursement - Meeker/Hunjadi