BLOUNT COUNTY FIRE & EMS ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 5,2013 MEETING

ST. VINCENT’S – BLOUNT HOSPITAL

The meeting was called to order by Chairman John Reed. Chief Wade gave the invocation. The following member organizations were represented: Allgood, Bangor, Blount County Rescue Squad, Blountsville, Brooksville, Cleveland, Dallas-Selfville, Holly Springs, Locust Fork, Mt. High, Murphree Valley, Nectar, Oneonta, Pine Mountain, Remlap, Ricetown, Rosa, Royal, Snead, St. Mountain, Summit, Susan Moore and West Blount. (100% attendance!) EMA, 9·1·1, Forestry, STV-Blount, Special Ops, BREMSS, Blount EMS, AMED and Law Enforcement were also represented. 9·1·1 Board Supervisor Neal Brooks and Board Member Bob Sanford were present.

GUESTS – District 2 Commissioner Carthal Self was present to hand out checks to the departments in his District and thanked all the departments for what you do for not only the Commissioners but the citizens of Blount County. Commissioner Self will need a letter from each department detailing what the check was used for. Susan Moore Mayor Jamie Brothers and County Attorney Jeff Sherrer were also present. Amy Shelton, Executive Director of Patient Care Services, of STV-Blount thanked all for coming and said the hospital was proud to sponsor the Association and was looking forward to working closely with EMS to improve the delivery of life saving / health care efforts for the people of the community. She also introduced Kira Schnittker, new Director over ED and Med-Surg and also Djuna Owens, ED Charge Nurse.

Chairman Reed asked for the approval of the minutes of the August meeting. Motion by Chief Payne, seconded by Chief Wade, and carried by voice vote. The Financial Report was approved by a motion from Assistant Chief Mike Benson, seconded by Chief Glass and carried by voice vote.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

CHAIRMAN – Chairman John Reed informed all that the request for funding to the Blount County Health Care Authority was approved for the BCF&EMSA. The attendance record was discussed and it had been suggested that the adopted Rules need some clarification. Several departments are close to losing privileges based on current attendance records. John then recognized Vice-Chairman Ken Edwards who reported on the AAVFD Conference. Ken said the choice of the new President surprised many of the attendees from 701 departments around the state. The new President is reaching out to all District Representatives and Ken thinks the situation will improve from previous administrations. His AAVFD report was sent out by email to the Egroups.

EMA – Director Max Armstrong advised that the Fuelman program was going to be over the budget of $70000.00 for the year. The August Fuelman use was at 122% of budgeted figures. There is no new NIMS reporting information available at this time. Continue to gather your training information and you will be notified of how to process that as soon as EMA gets guidance. The planned ICS 300 course only has 3 students while the 2012 NIMS training report shows that 12 individuals need that training.

9·1·1/COMMUNICATIONS – Max reported that the bid for the new 911 Center has been awarded and contact negotiations are in progress. A ground breaking ceremony is planned. The LifeSaver air base in Birmingham has closed so departments using that service as first choice of air ambulance need to notify 911 or EMA which air transport base and service they would like to use. Supervisor Neal Brooks asked that you update the 911 Center with any personnel changes so their paging number can be removed from the system. Individuals outside of the fire service are getting pages because old phone numbers are being reassigned by service providers. Repeater issues and upgrades will be addressed and funded as the new center construction begins.

TRAINING – Training Officer Tim Frye, Jr. emailed the Training Report to Egroups. The Chainsaw Training class will be held on Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 at Pine Mountain with classes at Station 2 and field work on a nearby property. Tim encouraged advance registration so the trainers will know how much equipment to bring. A Basic EMT class is underway at Allgood with 14 students. Chief Hill relayed information he received at a recent ISO class and encouraged anyone that could attend to find an available location. This would be very beneficial to all departments. Ken Edwards reported that Remlap would conduct a CPR training class on Saturday, September 7, at Station 1.

FIRE PREVENTION – Fair Coordinator Joe Ray Daily has sign-up sheets for those departments that will man the Association booth at the Blount County Fair. New house number signs will be available for purchase for those that visit the Association booth.

FORESTRY – Forester Joe Spradlin advised that Terry Helms is progressing and getting better from his recent surgeries.

SPECIAL OPS – Chief Willis reported that the command bus has a fuel leak that is being

repaired.

ST. VINCENTS BLOUNT - Amy Shelton emphasized that STV-Blount was exploring the options related to Critical Access programs. This designation involves the MediCare payment process and the reimbursement percentages that the hospital recovers and also effects the number of beds you are allowed. These changes will help the hospital to improve patient care, meet their patient goals with quality care and be more profitable, translating into more equipment available for patient care. The main focus of STV-Blount is to be a community hospital providing excellent patient care for Blount County residents and to be an important corporate citizen.

BREMSS – Protocols were approved at the State Emergency Medical Control Committee (SEMCC) meeting and will be going to the State Committee in October which would start the education portion during the holidays. It was decided to push back the education emphasis until after the holidays. The next BREMSS EMS Coordinators meeting will be September 28 at St. Vincent's East. The Regional EMS Contract for the Birmingham operating area was awarded to BREMSS. If you have a question about which air transport you need once you are on the scene, contact TCC and they will find you an aircraft. Check the BREMSS bulletin and website to review all training classes that are planned.

Blount EMS – Shawn Gregory relayed Lifesaver's request to ask to cut down on delays for scene flights, please let them know ASAP if you think you will require air transport at a scene.

AMED - No report

LAW ENFORCEMENT – SGT Investigator Fred Cochran relayed from Sheriff Arrington that the BCSO appreciates everything you do at the scenes to assist their personnel. He asked that you let him know if you have any questions or concerns.

CORONER – County Attorney Jeff Sherrer was invited to speak about faxing copies of patient care reports after the call was completed to the Coroner's office. There was some question whether this violated HIPPA laws due to faxing on a non-encrypted machine. Jeff had questions about the frequency that these events took place and what medical history was included in these reports. There is currently a difference of opinion between EMS protocols and the Coroner's office whether this report can be faxed. Jeff will take all information presented and do his research for a future report back to the Association.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY – No report

LIFESAVER – No report

AIR-EVAC – No report

RED CROSS – No report

GOOD & WELFARE - No report

OLD BUSINESS:

§ A motion to reimburse Vice-Chairman Ken Edwards for expenses related to attending the annual AAVFD Conference was received from Chief Payne with a second from Chief Head and passed by voice vote. Total expense was $286.45.

§ Website adjustments are being made.

NEW BUSINESS:

§ Chief Sanford talked about Lessons Learned during a recent ISO review for his department. If you have members who are on the roster but have not trained, move them to an auxiliary list. They also lost points due to the lack of a drill tower and fire building / smoke room.

§ The Nominating Committee report asked to hold current officers in their current positions for next year. The Firefighter of the Year and EMT nominations will be given at the October meeting in Rosa. Officers will be voted on in October and take office in November.

§ Chief Hill reported that Blount EMS will sponsor the meal at the November meeting at Holly Springs. ID badges will also be made prior to the meeting for those that need new or updated badges. Scuba equipment that is for sale will be on display.

The next meeting will be October 3, 2013 at Rosa Fire Department. The meal will be at 6:30 sponsored by Brad Cox with AllComm Wireless.