SMEMSIC SMEMSIC News

EMS Instructor Coordinator Course Open Enrollment for Fall class

Joseph Karlichek — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:54:47 GMT

Platinum Educational Group and STAT EMS are sponsoring an EMS Instructor Coordinator Course beginning September 16, 2010. For additional information and registration please contact EMS Educator Gary Denman 810.238.7672 ext.215 or email gdenman@statems.net or visit www.statems.net and click on Education. Cost of course is $570.00.

The New EMT-S?

Tom Knapp — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:17:05 GMT

The Emergency Medical Service Coordination Committee (EMSCC) has made a recommendation to the State EMS & Trauma section of MDCH to adopt the National Education Standards for all levels as the minimum standards in Michigan.

This will affect the levels of licensure (individuals and agencies), and education requirements in the following ways:

MFR – the current Michigan curriculum exceeds the National Education Standards so there will be no change. Michigan will continue to call it MFR and not adopt the national title EMR (Emergency Medical Responder)

EMT – the current Michigan curriculum exceeds the National Education Standards so there will be no change.

EMT-P – the current Michigan curriculum will need some enhancement in content. A task force is being formed to do a gap analysis.

EMT-S - the current Michigan curriculum will need a major renovation. Michigan will continue to call it EMT-S and not adopt the national title of AEMT (Advanced EMT). The new EMT-S will require approximately an additional 100 hours of education above of what the current EMT-S receives. The Society of Michigan EMS Instructor Coordinators (SMEMSIC) has offered to develop this bridge course. A large focus of the additional hours will focus on some pharmacology. The new EMT-S will be trained to administer the following drugs; IV narcotic antagonist (Narcan), inhaled beta agonist (Albuteral), IV D-50, IM glucagon, inhaled nitrous oxide, sublingual nitroglycerine, and sub-q/IM epinephrine. IV/IO access is in the national curriculum but endotracheal intubation is not, that has been replaced by blind insertion airway devices (BIAD) or supra-glottic airway devices (SAD) e.g. Combitube, King LT.

Individuals or agencies who do not want to upgrade to the new EMT-S will, by default, downgrade to the EMT level.

An implementation date has yet to be announced. A bridge course and testing process will be developed to upgrade the current EMT-S to the new EMT-S

There was very little discussion amongst EMSCC members in regards to the MFR, EMT and EMT-P motions however, the EMT-S discussion/debate was very intense and spirited. During these discussions it was identified approximately 25% of the current EMT-S services are actually providing care above the current EMT-S. It was also identified even though the EMT-S curriculum will be changing it is still the responsibility of the local medical control authority to approve the additional therapies or permitting paramedic services to downgrade to the new EMT-S.

For additional information on the National Education Standards visit www.ems.gov.

Submitted by David Maatman
NREMT-P/IC

IC Course Objectives Review Progress

Tom Knapp — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:16:58 GMT

At the request of MDCH, SMEMSIC has formed a work group to assist the State with a total review of the current Instructor Coordinator Course Objectives. After a number of meetings in Lansing, the work group is approximately 3/4 done with the review process. At a meeting today, the work group continued work on module 19 and will work late into the afternoon.

It appears that one more meetings of the work group will be needed to complete the review. After the entire document is reviewed by the work group, suggested changes will be forwarded to MDCH for further review and possible implementation. If you have any questions on these meetings or comments on the IC objectives in general, please let me know.

IC Course Objectives Review

Tom Knapp — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:51:34 GMT

At the request of MDCH, SMEMSIC has formed a work group to assist the State with a total review of the current Instructor Coordinator Course Objectives. The work groups first meeting was held in Lansing on March 24 and work was started on a review of the 388 page document that details the requirements for a EMS Instructor Coordinator Education Program in Michigan.

After an initial review of the first module in the document, home work was assigned for work group members to streamline the future meetings and 3 additional meeting dates were set for further work on the document. After the entire document is reviewed by the work group, suggested changes will be forwarded to MDCH for further review and possible implementation.

We will keep members advised on the progress of the work group and any changes that are made based on the work groups recommendations. As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions.

Specialist License Issue Meeting

Tom Knapp — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:39:32 GMT

On March 24, a number of SMEMSIC board members attended a meeting in Lansing involving discussions on the direction the State should take with the Specialist License Level in Michigan. This discussion, in part, is based on the fact that there is no certification level that is close to our specialist level with the national standards. While it is clear that Michigan may move away from testing with NREMT, there is still a need to determine if the specialist level will remain as it currently is, be eliminated or have additional skills added to the level.

Prior to the meeting, a decision had been made to recommended to the EMSCC that the level remain as it is. There was discussion during this meeting that there might be advantages of adding certain skill sets to this license level. The issue will be discussed at the next EMSCC meeting in Lansing and it is unclear if the EMSCC will vote to make a recommendation on the matter or send it back to committee for further work. SMEMSIC will try to keep all members up to date on the progress as further information becomes available.

Thanks for A Great Spring Conference

Tom Knapp — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:32:24 GMT

The conference is over and we want to thank all of you who made the conference a success. It was the best attended conference in SMEMSIC history and will be remembered for the record attendance as well as the speakers and attendees that made the learning experience have such an impact.

If you attended the conference but did not complete your conference survey, I would like to encourage you to click here to complete your survey. As a conference attendee, you input is important to us as we plan future conferences.

We have posted pictures from the Spring 2010 conference on our conference page. You may click here to go to our conference page and view the pictures as well as information on the Fall 2010 conference.

For members who attended the conference, your conference continuing education slips will be available on your member profile page soon. If you are a non member who attended the conference, we will email you continuing education slip to you at the email address you provided with your registration.

First Day of Main Conference a Great Success

Tom Knapp — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:06:47 GMT

The first day of the conference was very successful and conference registrations are now at 231 attendees. That is the best attendance for a conference in our organizations history.

The MDCH EMS Report presentation is online for members to view and it also includes the entire audio of the session. The file is in a flash format and is large due to the almost two hours of audio. The slides are set up to auto advance so that you can just listen to the audio if you wish or you can also watch the slides. The slides do not advance matching the audio but are timed to end when the audio does. However, you can sit at your computer and manually advance the slides to match the audio if you wish. Please let us know how you like this format and give us your suggestions. We believe this will be helpful for members who could not attend the conference to catch up on what was discussed at the MDCH EMS Report session. It will also allow conference attendees to listen to the session again to refresh their memory about items discussed. You can click on the picture above to go to the conference files page. You will need to log in as a member to view teh page.

Today's sessions at the conference will focus on Challenges that students and instructors face as well as using humor to reduce the stress of those challenges when appropriate. Check back tomorrow for updates on today's conference activities.

Record Attendance for 62nd Professional Development Conference

Tom Knapp — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:53:53 GMT

As we begin the first full day of the conference, registered attendance just reached 230 for the first time in our organizations history. Conference attendees are looking forward to a full day of General and Breakout sessions covering topics from EMSIC date to Collaborative Learning.

While online registration is closed, you can still register for the conference as a walk in by stopping at the registration desk. We look forward to an exciting day tomorrow with national presenters Steve Berry and John O'Leary.

Check back here for updates and we will have information on the fall 2010 conference on the web site soon. Let us know if you have any questions and welcome to Traverse City if you are here with us or come on up and register for tomorrow's sessions.

62nd Professional Development Conference Begins!

Tom Knapp — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:31:25 GMT

The time is here! Today is the first day of our 62nd Professional Development Conference, "The Challenge of Time". Today is our preconference day and we have two sessions today for first day attendees.

The Assessment and Treatment of Trauma session starts today at 8am and runs until 6pm. This full day course will prepare attendees to coordinate and instruct sessions for prehospital providers to better prepare them to made quick decisions about the card and destination of trauma patients in the field.

The second preconference session, Kinesthetic Learning, starts today at 1pm. The session will explore kinesthetic and psychomotor teaching and learning. Participants will develop and demonstrate kinesthetic techniques for the classroom.

The weather has turned about to be great so you can still travel and register as a walk in. Right now we have 226 attendees registered for the conference so this will be the most highly attended conference in our history. Check back here throughout the conference for updates.

Life EMS Ambluance hiring for I/C

John Schupra — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:25:35 GMT

Life EMS Ambluance is hiring for a full time I/C. Please contact John Schupra at 616.242.8857 for details of the position or visit our website at www.lifeems.com.

New Committee Membership and Information

Tom Knapp — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:17:34 GMT

We have been working on our committee structure by changing the way we maintain committee membership lists and the way we distribute information about each committees work. You will find a committee application/interest form on our committee pages to fill out if you are interested in serving on a committee. We are asking everyone to fill out this form if you wish to serve on a committee even if you believe you are already a member of a committee. This will allow us to maintain more accurate records as we transfer the keeping of committee lists from the chair person of each committee to our main office. This will allow us to better communicate with committee members. You will find links to detailed information on each of our committees on our committee home page. We are also posting information on all committee activities on each of the committee discussion forum pages. You will find links to each committee discussion forum, as well as other SMEMSIC forums, on our forum home page. We are excited about the work we can accomplish with this new committee structure and committee discussion forums.

Ryan White Act

Bob Cesario — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:55:42 GMT

During the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act in 2006, the
emergency-response provisions that mandates that source patient test
results be provided to the designated infection control officer (DICO)
of the emergency response employee involved in an exposure incident were
removed. State hospital associations were quick in advising their
constituents that providing such information to emergency responders
could represent a violation of HIPAA. Since that time, many “first
responder” organizations (including NASEMSO through Advocates for EMS)
have been working with Congressional staff to have these provisions
reinstated, including revised language to include provisions for other
infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis C, pandemic
influenza, and clarifying language on rapid testing…

Well, that has finally occurred — please see the following summary
for your information. I have also attached a copy of the act.

Ryan White Act

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment and Extension Act of 2009 passed the
House yesterday by a vote of 408 to 9. The Senate passed the bill
earlier this week so the bill now goes to President Obama for his
signature into law. There are several new additions to the Ryan White
Act which affect emergency care - and specifically emergency responders.

It is important to note that the ‘list’ established under Sec. 2695
is very powerful - it essentially determines what infectious diseases
should be considered ‘potentially life-threatening’. The list is
also used to determine whether or not emergency responders must be
notified of an exposure.

The entire bill can be found at this link http://bit.ly/2YZs1o

Here are the sections affecting emergency care and emergency
responders:

The bill adds a new section to Ryan White - “Part G Notification of
Possible Exposure to Infectious Diseases”

Within 180 days after enactment, Section 2695 Requires the Secretary of
HHS to complete the development of:

1. a list of potentially life-threatening infectious diseases,
including emerging infectious diseases, to which emergency response
employees may be exposed in responding to emergencies (The list
developed shall also include a specification of those infectious
diseases on the list that are routinely transmitted through airborne or
aerosolized means.)
2. guidelines describing the circumstances in which such employees may
be exposed to such diseases, taking into account the conditions under
which emergency response is provided;
3. guidelines describing the manner in which medical facilities should
make determinations when an emergency responder is requesting a
determination as to whether or not a patient he/she transported had an
infectious disease

This list will then be distributed to the public and the states

NOTE: This list is very important because it is relied heavily upon in
determining whether or not a responder has been exposed to an infectious
disease.

The bill also reestablishes some of the notification provisions that
were struck during the last Ryan White authorization. This is good news
for emergency responders. Specifically, the bill requires Prompt
notification - not later than 48 hours after determination is made - to
emergency responders when:

A patient is transported and it is determined that the patient has an
airborne infectious disease AND WHEN
A patient that is transported by emergency responders dies at or before
reaching the medical facility, the medical facility ascertaining the
cause of death shall notify the designated officer of the emergency
response employees who transported the victim to the initial medical
facility of any determination by the medical facility that the victim
had an airborne infectious disease.

The bill also contains a provision for emergency responders to request
a determination as to whether or not a patient had an infectious
disease. Basically the provision states that:

1. The employee must first make a request
2. The request is then examined, facts are collected by a designated
officer
3. The designated officer then makes a determination - if the
designated officer feels that an exposure may have occurred then he/she
submits a request to the medical facility
4. Once the medical facility receives the request, it has 48 hours to
respond
5. The medical facility will make a determination, based on the
information possessed by the facility, regarding whether or not the
emergency responder was exposed to an infectious disease that appears on
the list (created above).
6. The medical facility can make 3 determinations, Notification of
Exposure, Finding of No Exposure, Insufficient information
7. If a finding of insufficient information is made, the public health
officer for the community in which the medical facility is located can
also evaluate the request if the designated officer submits the request
to him/her.

Looking for IC's

Ralph Elam — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:13:20 GMT

Superior Medical Education is looking for paramedic IC's to act as subs when needed for the 2009-10 school year. Also looking for those interested in teaching an initial basic or paramedic program. Contact Ralph Elam at RalphEMS@aol.com

Motions from Spring General Membership Meeting

Tom Knapp — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:56:09 GMT

At the Spring General Membership meeting, a number of motions were made that require actions from the Board of Directors. The SMEMSIC Board is currently working on the actions that will be required from these motions. The motions are listed below for your review in case you were unable to attend the meeting.

Motion 1:
The Society request and aid the state in the development of a process to provide “certification of competency” of specified skills as an alternative to the required practical credits.
Motion 2:
That any action by the SMEMSIC Board on recommendation to MDCH (regarding any change in how practical credits can be earned) be brought to the General Membership for approval.
Motion 3:
Ask the State EMS Office to define the process for applying for practical continuing education credit and provide written notification with a deadline for implementation.

We are working on motion 2 and 3 through a meeting with MDCH later this morning. Discussion of motion one will be ongoing as we work with MDCH throughout this year. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Practical Credit Approval Requirements for Continuing Education

Tom Knapp — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:26:39 GMT

If you attended the Spring conference you heard during the MDCH EMS report that the State is going to make some changes regarding the requirements for application of continuing education practical credits. If you did not attend, you may still have heard about these changes as word does spread fast in the EMS education world. The changes will impact the way you apply for practical continuing education credits by requiring additional information such as the student instructor ratio and other information.

Since the conference, the SMEMSIC Board of Directors has been in contact with MDCH representatives and expressed member concerns that were expressed at the general membership meeting at the conference. As a result of these discussions, MDCH has agreed to put any changes in the Practical CE approval requirements "on hold". So for the time being, the information presented at the MDCH EMS report will not be implemented and Practical CEs will be awarded as they have in the past until the new Practical CE approval process has been reviewed.

The SMEMSIC Executive Committee, and other board members who are able to attend, will have a meeting with MDCH representatives to discuss the issues and concerns raised at the general membership meeting. The MDCH representatives were very responsive to our concerns and suggested a meeting to review the issues relating to these proposed changes in the practical approval requirements. As of this writing, a tentative date of March 27 has been set for the meeting with the SMEMSIC executive board and MDCH in Lansing. We will let you know the outcome and advise you if the date changes.

Ryan White Act

Bob Cesario — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:12:06 GMT

Hello All - Not sure how many of you are aware of the action that took place December 2006, but the Ryan White Act (RWA) was reauthorized during a legislative session in Washington with one huge detail omitted - emergency responders (ER) were removed as an entity covered by this act. It was only discovered this past spring that this had occurred, and appeared in the March JEMS (see the link below).

There is a little activity taking place around the US to try beating the deadline of October 1, 2009 to have ER's reinstated in this Act, but this may be problematic unless we make enough noise in Lansing to get our Senate to help in this matter. I have not seen anything come out of Michigan on this issue, and we need to act now if we are going to have any chance reinstating ER's back into the RWA.

If you are interested in helping by sending your senator a letter requesting support on this issue, please click on the e-mail link below, and I'll be happy to send you a template I've put together, as well as other information for your use and information.

E-Mail
JEMS Ryan White

J.E.M.S. News Article - Video Laryngoscopy & Pre-Hospital Care

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:18:34 GMT

http://www.jems.com/Images/Verathon_tcm16-155825.pdf

Journal of Emerengency Medicine - GlideScope Ranger Article

http://www.verathon.com/emergency_medicine.htm

Company Website

http://www.verathon.com/PDFs/0900-2134-00-86.pdf

Product Info

EMS Education Agenda Webinar

Eric Smith — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:15:20 GMT

In case this hasn't been posted somewhere else already, here is some information Board Member Bob Cesario shared yesterday.

NASEMSO to Host December 19 Webinar on EMS Education Agenda

New Member News Blog

Tom Knapp — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:02:37 GMT

The Society of Michigan EMS Instructor Coordinators has opened a members news blog with members can post articles of interest to other SMEMSIC members. This Blog is not intended to take the place of the public news blog but this one will allow our members to post as well as read the articles. Please feel free to submit information from our different areas as we test this new News Blog. It is our hope that members will use this new service along with the discussion forums and other areas of the new members area to keep informed about SMEMSIC and State EMS issues that impact EMS education in Michigan. Please let us know your thoughts as we are always looking for ideas to improve this site and bring more services to you.