Minutes 10/12/2000 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2000
HENDRY HALL 241 y r
MINUTES V, 2 ` au..
Call To Order: The meeting was called to order at 2:05
Members Present: Ken Craft, Bonita Springs Fire Department; Bill Lombardo, South
Trail Fire & Rescue; Bill Clemens, Estero Fire & Rescue; Dan
Sieber, San Carlos Park; Jeff Page, Cape Coral Emergency
Medical Services; Jorge Aguilera, Cape Coral Emergency Medical
Services; Dr. James Browder, Fort Myers High School; John R.
Wayne, Lehigh Acres Fire Department; Chris Dowaliby, Fort
Myers Beach Fire Department; Mary Allison, Lee County Health
Department; Chris Hansen, Lee County Emergency Medical
Services; and Dr. Robert Lehrer, St. Joseph's Hospital.
Staff Present: Paul R. Monagan, Dean, Division of Workforce Programs; Dr. Jeff
Elsberry, District Dean of Instruction, Health & Sciences; Kim
Dickerson, EMS Coordinator; Warren Panem, EMS Clinical
Coordinator; Shara Ray, EMS Lab Manager; and Susan Calhoun,
Staff Assistant.
Welcome
Kim Dickerson thanked everyone for attending and asked members to introduce
themselves.
II. EMS Personnel Update
A. Kim Dickerson introduced Shara Ray, the new EMS Lab Manager. Shara
is reponsible for coordinating the laboratories on all three campuses and is
also involved with teaching an EMT pilot class at Fort Myers High
School.
B. Kim Dickerson notified the committee that Warren Panem has been
named the statewide coordinator for Primary Education. There are a few
projects on-line for the State--one of the biggest being the security of the
test bank. The State also wants to provide uniformity on the Website.
• Kim Dickerson said that the Florida Website link (FAEMSE.org)
is a good informational resource.
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• Warren noted that one major goal is to make the Paramedic
program a mandatory A.S. program.
III. Accreditation Update
A. Status - Kim told the Committee that ECC successfully went
through the Site Visit and Self-Study processes. We have been re-
accredited and will soon be receiving the official paperwork.
• She noted that the Site Team was blown away and that she,
Warren, and Dr. Leyrer were recommended as site team visitors.
She received notification two days ago that they had all been
accepted. This is quite an honor as there are only 25 - 30
nationally active site visitors.
IV. Programs Award
A. State - Kim Dickerson was selected EMS Director of the Year for
the State of Florida.
B. National - The Edison Community College program is being
nominated for a national award--(Successful and Promising
PostSecondary Career and Technical Education Program
Recognition).
V. University of Miami Partnership
A. Stroke Curriculum Roll-Out
• The University of Miami is going to roll out their stroke curriculum
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program in two weeks. They are trying to bring all community
colleges on line so they can teach their Emergency Management of
Acute Stroke program.
VI. EMS Facility
Kim said the new facilities were completed and she would take the
committee on a tour after the meeting. The facility has a separate Internet
access computer room, a nice work area for instructors including 5
Workstations, an adjacent office, and a conference room. The lab is huge
and Lee County EMS had donated an ambulance, which is parked in the
lab. This ambulance will have cameras installed to track training
activities.
• Four bays are being constructed—two for ALS trainers.
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• The EMS program has also purchased an ambulance from the Fort
Myers Fire Department. This ambulance is going to be painted white
and the ECC logo and an advertisement for the Paramedic program
placed on it. This will provide us with an excellent marketing tool.
• The Grand Opening for the new facility is scheduled for December 10,
2000.
VII. Paramedic Program Issues
A. Student Enrollment
• ECC is doing a pilot EMT program at Fort Myers High School this
semester. Twenty-seven students are enrolled. "The students are
great. They are reading the book, doing their homework, and are
getting strong test scores." We need to take a serious look at
promoting pilot programs in other high schools.
• Without these students, we currently have 110 EMT students.
• Dr. Browder commented that the pilot program provides another
vehicle for kids at the high school level. Kids are knocked dead—
most exciting thing ever happened. He envisions one section every
semester and feels that there will be a number of high schools that will
want to participate.
• Kim Dickerson commented that this would be a way of getting people
directly into Edison Community College as paramedic students.
• Kim explained that paramedic numbers are down as expected because
of the Anatomy and Physiology and DLA hold requirements. We have
started a new paramedic program by combining Lee and Collier
students.
B. Admission Requirements
• The Committee discussed whether Anatomy and Physiology should be
offered as a prerequisite or a co-requisite.
• Kim expressed concern that having as a co-requisite would be adding
another 4 hours to the current 11 hours in the first semester of the
Paramedic Program.
• Dr. Jeff Elsberry noted that according to the curriculum, we could
offer as either a prerequisite or a corequisite. In the case of EMS,
offering it as a prerequisite makes sense.
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• Kim told the committee that the decision was up to them.
• Dr. Elsberry said we need to look at individually and determine what
is best for the students.
• Ken Craft suggested that maybe these courses could be offered at the
high school level.
• Dr. Elsberry also suggested the possibility of using Internet or
compressed video to offer courses at the station houses.
• Dr. Lehrer commented that we don't want to cut corners by fast
tracking students.
• The Committee agreed that Anatomy and Physiology should be
offered as a prerequisite.
• Kim Dickerson said development of an advanced technical certificate
that would give graduate paramedics a chance to enhance their skills
was a program goal. Our idea is to develop more qualified candidates
for employment. We will start working on for presentation at our next
meeting.
• Kim thanked everyone for supporting the EMS program and reminded
them that the Grand Opening of the new facility would be December
10, 2000 from 2 to 4 p.m.
IX. Adjournment
• The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
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