The June, 2010 Board Meeting for the Joint Committee of Emergency Medical Services in Trumbull County was held at 11:30 pm on 6/30/10 at Abruzzi’s 422.
Voting Members present were as follows:
1) Chairman – Dr. Spirtos
2) Co Chairman – none
3) TMH Representative – none
4) Education Representative – none
5) Fire Chief – Roger French
6) Private Service – Jack Popadak
7) Fire Basic – Dale Briggs
8) Fire Intermediate – Ken Laughlin
9) Fire Medic – Fred Stosik
10) Private Basic – Tom Lambert
11) Private Intermediate– David Woodford
12) Private Medic – Randy Pugh
13) First Responder – none
ALTERNATE MEMBERS PRESENT WERE:
Ken Schick, Sean Davis, John Hickey, Tom Reed
GUESTS PRESENT:
April Reed
Monthly Attention Concerns
This CQI / QA policy is presently in effect. The first set of runs requested will be due by the last Wed. of July.
CQI POLICY from the 4/28/10 board meeting
a. CQI / QA for runs generated by EMS. At the March meeting the informal discussion resulted in two board members volunteering to do random QA. George Snyder reviewed and approved the CQI / QA forms submitted to him by Sean Davis. There was much discussion concerning the process for QA. The highlights are as follows:
At present the CQI is being done with a double blind. Those who have runs QA’d will not know who did the QA, nor do the QA officers know whose runs are being QA’d. The question was raised whether a flag should go to the person’s administrator. The answer was “Yes.” If only one person in a department is doing QA the court will probably say that it is not being done according to “standard of care”. A 2nd set of eyes is needed to assure standards. There is a concern that too few people doing QA from one or two departments will not suffice. There should be a broad representation from several departments helping out. A QA officer could possibly even be from a former medic or nurse familiar with our protocol. HIPPA is NOT an issue with QA. It was felt that we should start small, perhaps only QAing chest pain from only 5 runs per company per month. Much discussion
centered on specific QA versus random runs QA. Any company can always call George Snyder or Dr. Spirtos to have a specific run QA’d. Should we consider paying people to do it? No, we have volunteers. Discussion was finally broken down into 3 categories:
1. Should QA be required? Randy Pugh made a motion to have everyone with protocol under the JCEMS in TC to be required to participate in the QA program. Jack Popakak seconded the motion.
Discussion: How do we put “teeth” to it? It needs to be included in the protocol on page I-2-b – “How to retain annual protocol” Randy Pugh amended his motion to include the addition to the protocol. Jack Popadak seconded. Motion passed with no opposition.
2. The # of runs to request from each company: Tim Thomas made a motion to allow the QA committee to decide the number of runs needed to get the process going. George Snyder seconded the motion. Motion passed with no opposition.
3. Who will the other QA officers be? Besides the two who volunteered at the March meeting, people from Champion FD, Action Ambulance and Lanes LifeTrans will take part. It will be up to them and George Snyder to decide the process on a weekly or monthly basis.
All written run reports will be due to George Snyder by mail or drop off by the day of the monthly board meeting (last Wed of the month). All departments that use EMS Charts are not required to do so, as they will be QA’d online. The process will begin in July.
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There have been requests for information concerning having the hospitals fax a face sheet to your department. If you need one from St. Joes, they say verbal request is all you need. If you need one from TMH click (here TMH face sheet request) for a copy of the sheet needed to request the face sheet.
Trauma Call-In Sheets
This is a copy of the EMS trauma call-in sheet currently being utilized at the ED at TMH. We are distributing this sheet to all interested EMS agencies as a means of confirming with you the information that our nurses need from EMS when calling in a trauma.
The key information that EMS needs to provide includes the following:
AGE of patient
SEX of patient
CURRENT VITAL SIGNS of patient (HR, RR, SpO2, Systolic BP (at least))
GCS of patient (important to gauge patient status and improvement)
LOC during incident or transport, and if LOC is present HOW LONG the patient lost consciousness
(this is important to try to obtain; if unknown, EMS needs to advise the
staff that it was unknown or unobtainable on call-in.)
AIRWAY treatment in place (anything from a nasal canula, to a mask to ETT)
MECHANISM OF INJURY (crash, fall, ejection… whatever caused the injuries)
Other information on the sheet such as the name of the patient, are not required for EMS to report. Obviously, EMS will not have the names of the trauma surgeon and other such information; this will be for our staff to acquire. EMS needs to relay the information that is requested above.
In the future, we will be reducing this information into a pocket-card format so that it will be easier for EMS providers to utilize. Once again, this is for reference as to what information our staff will be requesting, and it is provided to you to familiarize yourself with it. Questions, please contact me at either (330) 841-9616, or GSnyder@forumhealth.org.
Each department and individual needs to know what constitutes "trauma" and where trauma victims need to go for treatment! Here's a great power point informational presentation from the state. It's a 1.2 MB download, but a great training tool. Just click TRAUMA. Each department should have their own QA for trauma to ascertain the over / under triaging that is being done for said trauma calls.
- If you or your department has an announcement you would like to make for the Trumbull County EMS system, please email the secretary here for inclusion. Be sure and date it to let the webmaster know how long you want to run the announcement.
Ped CE
click here for a brocure on bringing someone to your department for Ped CE
CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR RECERTIFICATION
ED Materials suitable for Basic, Intermediate, and Medics at the Woodiebrook Education Center. You can register at http://uhhsgeaugaems.org
. Any questions can be sent to kellyannmisterka@aol.com or 440-724-2556.
Here is an opportunity for all EMT's / Medics (and others) to ask questions of the board, offer suggestions via this web page. In the box below we will post your questions and suggestions with a response from the board. simply click on the mail link, offer your question / suggestion and it will be posted.
| email your submission to webmaster with "tcems question" in the subject heading
- Question? Why should a basic EMT not be able to exchange a drug box while the medic is writing the report?
--- ANSWER: OAC Rule 4729-33-03 states: "Only emergency medical technician - paramedics, emergency medical technician - intermediates .... may have access to any controlled substances .... " The rest of the statement as well as a statement from the protocol chairman may be accessed here.
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A copy of a "trauma pad" that some hospitals use when taking information from you concerning a trauma victim might help when delivering information to a nurse enroute. Click on Trauma Pad and make copies to keep in each squad.
The EMS office is at the Bristol Fire Dept. at 1864 Greenville Rd in Bristolville. You can reach the secretary at his cell number 330-219-5976. TCEMS fax: 330-889-3710. You can email him at drmusc@aol.com as well.
