WMEMS MAY 1996 NEWSLETTER
Regional Meeting Highlights
At-Large voting membership slot has been vacated by a resignation. The new member would fill the vacant seat with a term expiration of 1998. Nominations may be called in to the WMEMS office; the position will be voted on at the June 13th Regional Council meeting to be held in Conference Room A, Cooley Dickinson Hospital at 10 am. Please consider getting involved and making a difference! Read the mission statement of WMEMS below. Regional Council meets the 2nd Thursday of every month except July, August & December. Annual Meeting/Banquet This year's festivities were held at the Hotel Northampton and it was the best attended annual meeting yet. Great food, funny guest speaker and great company. One of the evening's highlights was the regional presentation of the Eaton Freeman Award. After much behind the scenes maneuvers, this year's recipient attended the banquet to find a huge number of his squad also in attendance. The 1996 Eaton Freeman
Award goes to Kenneth J. LaBier. Ken is the Director of the Town of Lee Ambulance Service. He is a co-founder of the squad and has been active in EMS for over 27 years. He directs a squad of 40 volunteers, operating two ambulances and answering 600 calls per year. He was, until March, the Berkshire County EMS Coordinator. Lee is building new quarters for the
squad, a project made possible through Ken's efforts. According to his squad he is supportive, caring and devotes a tremendous amount of time and energy to Lee Ambulance Squad and EMS in Berkshire County. The Eaton Freeman Award is given to an individual whose efforts within their field are directly responsible for benefitting the prehospital field. The award is named for Dr. Eaton E. Freeman, who was the first full time director of the Emergency Department at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and was a pioneer in prehospital medicine. He was also the first treasurer of WMEMS.
Time to Celebrate
The snow has finally disappeared, the birds are back and EMS week approaches. This year's theme is "EMS: It's up to you." The dates are May 19th-25th. As in past years each of the county EMS committees will hold EMS recognition ceremonies, as will the State. Dates and details are provided below. Come celebrate, and have a good time. Let's take some time to recognize each other and the good work we do. Special note: Lucy Ann Britton, RN from Hillcrest Hospital has been chosen as State EMS
Nurse of the year. She will receive her award at the State ceremony. Yea, Lucy!!!
PARTIES
Monday, May 20, 1996
"Franklin County 4th Annual EMS Appreciation Dinner & Award Celebration"
6p reception & hors d'oeuvres, 6:45 Buffet, 7:45 Awards, 8p Comedian Leo T. Baldwin, Conference Rooms A, B, C, Franklin
Medical Ctr, By invitation only.
Wednesday, May 22, 1996
"Hampden County EMS Awards"
6p hors d'oeuvres followed by Awards Presentation. Tentative Speaker Senator Brian Lees. Auditorium, Holyoke Hospital. Open to all.
Thursday, May 23, 1996
"Berkshire County EMS Awards Presentation"
6p cocktail hour, 7p dinner, 8p awards presentation, Silver Screen Restaurant in Pittsfield. Open to all. $16/person, RSVP by 5/18 to 499-2528.
"State EMS Awards Ceremony"
Gardner in Boston. RSVP (617) 753-8300. Free! Open to all.
Friday, May 24, 1996
"Hampshire County EMS Awards Night"
6-8 p, Living Room McCallum Building, Cooley Dickinson Hospital. Awards presented by Senator Stanley Rosenberg & Unit
Appreciation Plaques presented by Dr. Conway. Family members welcome.
WMEMS Mission Statement
WMEMS Committee, Inc. is a regional nonprofit corporation committed to improving the delivery of emergency medical services to residents of Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire counties in western Massachusetts. Designated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Committee coordinates communication among and enhances the efficiency
of providers of ems including ambulance services, first responders and hospital emergency departments. Through its work, the Committee evaluates and sets standards of quality for regional ems, offering training, education and medical services research opportunities and developing appropriate protocols and policies for implementation. As a regional corporation, the Committee seeks regular input and broad representation on its board from the communities and consituencies it serves: consumers, municipal governments, hospitals, ambulance services and other providers of ems across the 4 county area.
OEMS Eliminates "Double Approval"
for Continuing Education
Programs
Effective June 1st, 1996, all continuing education programs planned for Region I will not require OEMS review to be approved. The Regional Training Committee will review the programs, then send only the cover sheet to OEMS so that a course number can be issued. OEMS will then send the approval number to the program coordinator. Previously both the Regional or County
Training Committee and OEMS reviewed the applications. This change eliminates our Basic Training Committees in each county. All programs (B, I, P levels) will be sent to the WMEMS office for approval. OEMS still retains the review and approval of all refreshers and all WMEMS sponsored programs but all refresher applications must be sent to WMEMS to be forwarded to
OEMS. No other changes have been made. The six week submission time frame is still in place. Call 413-586-6065 or email WMEMS@wmems.org to obtain the new continuing education application.
Regional Events
WMEMS is sponsoring another Emergency Medical Dispatch Course which is scheduled for June 21, 22, and 23 in Northampton. WMEMS is able to subsidize 30 slots for currently employed emergency medical dispatchers or calltakers in Region I who have not previously been certified in EMD. The subsidized cost is $25/person. A mailing has gone out to dispatch agencies and all ambulance services in Region I. The deadline for registration is May 31st. At which time, WMEMS will evaluate the registrants. If more
registrations are received than slots available the staff will allocate slots to agencies. There are 10 slots available at the full tuition price of
$250. These 10 slots are first come first serve. Call 586-6065 for more info. Semi-Automatic Defibrillation Credential Changes The Regional Council recently modified the credentialling policy to allow for recently revoked (within 1 year) WMEMS credentialled personnel to challenge the defib credential during the year following the revocation. The policy change also lengthens the suspension period that follows the defib expiration date. Appropriate recredentialling paperwork is due in the office by December 31st. All defib personnel who have not submitted the required paperwork are suspended as of January 1st. Those suspended personnel now
have until March1st to submit the necessary paperwork. Those defib personnel who fail to correct the problems by March 1st are
revoked. Those revoked personnel now may register and attend one of the prescheduled WMEMS challenge session located in Northampton during the calendar year their defib credential was revoked. This challenge session consists of both written and practical exams. The Semi-Automatic Defibrillation Challenge Sessions have been scheduled for the year. 1996 Defib Quarterly Challenge Sessions all located at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Northampton: 6p-8p, Tues, June 11th; 8-10a, Thurs, August 29th; 5-7p, Mon, October 21st. Preregistration is necessary. Call WMEMS 413-586-6065. Paramedic Optional Skills WMEMS credentials MA EMT-Ps in optional skills which consist of intraosseous infusion, needle cricothyroidotomy, needle chest decompression. Challenge/Recertification quarterly sessions are scheduled as follows: June 4th, 9:30 am-11:30 am; September 9, 1:30-3:30 pm. To challenge the WMEMS Paramedic Optional Skills credential call the office to obtain a challenge application which must be submitted two weeks prior to the challenge date. Paramedic Optional Skills Course (11 hours EMT-P con-ed credit): The annual course will be held November 20, 9a-5p and Friday, November 22, 9a-1p. Preregistration is required.
Training Equipment and AV Material
WMEMS has videos and slides available for three day rental periods. WMEMS recently subscribed to the PULSE video series which includes timely training topics. The regional office also has training equipment for rent such as splints, IV arm and hand, rhythm generator, CPR manikins, intubation manikins, etc. Call the office to receive a current list of the equipment available and an up to date list of the video and slide libraries.
Upcoming Continuing Education for EMTs
Title/Speaker Course Sponsor Date Coordinator Hrs
____________________________________________________________________________
Orthopedic Injuries HSTC 5/16/96 Barbara Pummell 3 b
737-0038
EMTs & the Violent Pt SBVA 5/16/96 Lynn Mulheron 3 b,i,p
274-1124
Domestic Violence & Colrain Ambulance 5/19/96 Jeremie Meyer 3 b,i,p
the EMT 774-5937
Incident Command AMR 5/22/96 Regina Zalenski 4 b,i,p
System for EMS 783-5108
PALS Baystate Health 5/23/96 Sandra Reissour
Systems 784-3466
DOT Refresher AMR 5/23/96 Bob Chapdelaine
783-9202
Run Report Writing North Adams Amb 5/24/96 Michael Tourjee 3 b,i
664-6680
Trip Review AMR 5/29/96 Regina Zalenski 2 b,i
783-5108
DOT Refresher Franklin County 5/30/96 Renee Lake
EMT Assoc. 774-3624
M & M-Respiratory Franklin County 6/2/96 Karen Fleury 3 b,i,p
EMT Assoc. 498-2718
Prehospital Trauma Baystate Medical 6/4/96 Mary Cushman 1 b,i,p
Conference 784-3469
Communicable Disease HSTC 6/5/96 Barbara Pummell 3 b
& OSHA 737-0038
Orthopedic Injuries HSTC 6/5/96 Barbara Pummell 3 b
737-0038
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