11/23/2003 GETAC recap

[Guest guest]

Stakeholders,

Below is the recap from the 11/23/2003 meeting of the Governor's EMS and

Trauma Advisory Council. It is amazing the amount of work that is going on

through that group and it's standing committees, task forces, and

workgroups!

Thanks to all of you who participate in the GETAC meetings/processes,

whether at the meetings or from home. Your voice is important.

I hope you all have a very special holiday season. Be safe.

Kathy

C. Perkins, RN, MBA, Chief

Bureau of Emergency Management

phone: 512/834-6740

fax: 512/834-6736

email: kathy.perkins@...

GETAC Recap (11/23/2003)

The Governor's EMS and Trauma Advisory Council (GETAC) met on November 23rd

in San in conjunction with the annual Texas EMS Conference. GETAC

approved the minutes from their August 29th meeting with an amendment (the

amended minutes will be posted on the Bureau of Emergency Management

website) and heard reports from the chair, staff, and committee/task

force/work group chairs.

Chair, Dr. Ed Racht, appointed a new Task Force to address issues of

non-emergency transfer/transport (see list of members below). He presented

some ideas regarding committee membership/terms and asked the council to

discuss the issue later on the agenda. He told the members that at a future

meeting, probably May 2004, the council would meet for two days to review

progress on implementation of the Strategic Plan. He announced the 2004

meeting dates: 2/12-13; 5/6-7; 8/12-13; and 11/20-21 (in conjunction with

the 2004 Texas EMS Conference in Austin). Finally, he introduced Jerry

Overton, President of the American Ambulance Association who addressed the

council briefly about national EMS issues.

New Task Force (name yet to be determined) members

FE Shaheen, Co-Chair, Levelland EMS

Wayne , Co-Chair, East Texas Gulf Coast RAC Executive Director; former

Regional EMS Director for Public Health Region 6 (includes County

area)

Britton Waldron, Temple

, Municipal Service, Washington County

Brossett, Private Provider - Houston/Beaumont area

s, Private Provider - Wichita Falls area

Steve Dralle, Private Provider, San

Liz Herring, Municipal Service, Arlington

Vance Riley, Municipal Service,

Donna , Private Provider, County area

Bill Aston, Non-Profit Air Medical/Ground Provider, Harlingen

Dave , Municipal Provider, Austin/ County EMS

Dr. Steve Ellerbe, Medical Director, Liberty County

Dave , Private Provider, Tyler/East Texas

GETAC discussed the reports. Much time was spent on the issue of Standing

Committee/Task Force issues (i.e. terms, makeup, charges, etc.). GETAC

heard public comment on the reports and other general issues.

Action Items

A motion was made by Simms and seconded by Dr. Ronny that

GETAC Standing Committees should have no less than 10 and no greater than 20

members, that each committee should have a generic profile as to its

purpose, that interested individuals must apply to be appointed to a

committee, and that appointments to committees are made jointly by the GETAC

Chair and the Committee Chair. The motion passed unanimously.

A motion was made by Simms and seconded by Segura that GETAC

Standing Committee members should have terms with expiration dates, however,

when a committee member's term expires, that individual may be re-appointed.

One third of the Committee members should expire each year. The motion

passed unanimously.

A motion was made by Dr. Ronny and seconded by Shirley Scholtz that

the Air Medical Task Force be established as a GETAC standing committee. The

motion failed on a vote of 2 for and 10 against.

A motion was made by Shirley Scholtz and seconded by Simms that the

charge of the Air Medical Task Force be broadened to include identifying all

air medical issues in Texas and that the Task Force may bring issues to

GETAC. The motion passed unanimously.

A motion was made by Dr. Ed Racht and seconded by F.E. Shaheen to charge the

Air Medical Task Force to evaluate issues related to impact on clinical care

and systems issues with increasing liability insurance requirements for

helicopter landings at some hospitals. The motion passed unanimously.

A motion was made by Segura and seconded by Ronny that GETAC

accept the Injury Prevention plan for Texas. The motion passed unanimously.

The next meeting date for GETAC is February 13th in Austin. Standing

Committees and Task Forces will meet the preceding days.

Staff, Committee, Task Force, and Workgroup Reports:

Issues addressed by staff included changes in regulatory processes that have

occurred (centralization of individual certification/licensure application

receipt and processing) and will be occurring in the near future

(centralization of provider licensing application receipt and processing;

centralized test scheduling; and transfer to Texas On-Line for web-based

re-certification/re-licensure); status of rule revisions; update regarding

national registry (NR) testing implementation, including staff findings

about Basic testing; staff changes in the EMS/Trauma Registry; TRAC-IT

implementation/training; planned 2003 database closure date of 4/1/2004; and

plans for an EMS/Trauma Registry Workgroup meeting in mid-January 2004.

Questions about these staff reports may be directed to BEM (512/834-6700) or

the Bureau of Epidemiology (512/458-7266).

Maxie Bishop reported that the Education Committee discussed the current

situation regarding basic exam locations, including the high " no show "

rates; publication of EMS Education program statistics related to NREMT exam

results (this was an extensive discussion and the Committee is considering a

recommendation to BEM to publish such statistics for Basic programs sometime

in the next 18 - 24 months, but would like the Data, Informatics, and

Research Task Force [DIRTF] to identify factors beyond pass rates alone that

should be included); terms and makeup of the committee; and a potential

future NREMT requirement for EMS education programs to be nationally

accredited.

Pete Wolf reported that the EMS Committee discussed the FRO rule

specifically non-registered Advanced Life Support first responders. They

would like to see more regulatory authority in this regard. BEM staff

agreed to work with the TDH legal department to see what opportunities are

available under current law and report at their next meeting. The committee

also discussed this issue of committee makeup and terms; they recommended

three year terms for appointees, however, the prevailing opinion on make-up

appeared to be that regional interests are more important than specific

entity perspective (i.e. government, private, hospital, fire-based, etc.).

Segura reported that the Injury Prevention Committee has completed the

Injury Prevention Plan for Texas, way ahead of schedule (due date was

October 2004). The plan was sent out for public comment and no changes were

recommended. The Committee is requested that GETAC approve vote to approve

it. The DIRTF was discussed and the Committee decided that they should meet

jointly beginning at the next scheduled meeting.

Dr. Joan Shook reported that the committee discussed recommendations for

pediatric specific guidelines to be utilized by the Regional Advisory

Councils. The committee also discussed various definitions of " age

specific " for pediatric patients, as well as the necessity for pediatric

specific education and equipment for EMS providers. The members would like

to meet in combination with the Trauma Systems Committee to discuss some of

these issues.

Dr. Steve Ellerbe chaired the Medical Directors Committee meeting in Dr.

Fred Hagedorn's absence. Dr. Ellerbe reported on the Medical Director's

course, which is expected to be available electronically so that it can be

accessible statewide. Dr. Ellerbe also reported that the committee had

recommended that the Comprehensive Clinical Management Program (CCMP) move

on to a full pilot test (possibly through an RFP process) and that

associated First Responder Organizations could be covered under a provider's

CCMP if the FRO had the resources and support of the medical director.

Dr. Ronny apologized for missing the committee meeting and reported

that Jorie Klein presided in his absence. He reported that of

the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services gave a briefing on the new

Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) regulations that went

into effect this month. Committee members discussed the definitions of " bad

debt " and " charity care " in Draft Rule 157.131 Designated Trauma Fund and

Emergency Medical Services Account. Dr proposed to have a called

2-day meeting in January to further discuss Draft Rule 157.131 as well as

Draft Rule 157.125 Requirements for Trauma Facility Designation, and to have

a joint meeting with the Pediatric Committee to discuss issues of mutual

interest.

Pete Wolf reported that the Rural Task Force continued work on the

development of an elected officials' guide (the guide should be concise,

include illustrations, and have chapters addressing the following: history,

problems, current legislation, and future of EMS). The Task Force is also

looking for ideas for public service announcements regarding the appropriate

utilization of EMS.

Shirley Scholtz reported that the Air Medical Task Force met for

approximately 15 minutes and determined that it had completed its original

charge. The Task Force is now requesting GETAC " standing committee " status

so that other state-wide aero-medical issues can be addressed by the group.

Dr. Bob Folden reported that the Data, Information, and Research Task Force

discussed the structure of the task force and what types of studies

(randomized control trials) are the most effective and reflect true data.

He also discussed the need for " collaboration and funding " to do research.

The taskforce " charge " was also discussed.

Ernie Rodriquez reported that the EMD Resource Center Pilot Workgroup met

for the first time. They reviewed the enacting legislation as well as the

previous request for proposals (RFP) that was never funded. They will be

providing BEM staff with recommendations for revisions to the RFP before

publication.