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Minutes 01/28/1998 EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ADVISORY COUNCIL (EMSAC) INFORMAL MINUTES January 28, 1998 2:00 P.M. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HEADQUARTERS 3301 East Tamiami Trail Council Members Present: Bob Laird Excused: Mike Davis Roger Evans George Leamon Rhona Saunders Orly Stolts, Lt. Gail Dolan J.P, Gunther-Mohr Gary Young Jorge Aguilera, Commander Fay Biles Diane B. Flagg, Chief Barbara Brown The regular monthly meeting of the Collier County EMSAC committee was called to order at 2:05 P.M. on Wednesday, January 28, 1998 by Bob Laird, Chairman. Chairman Laird introduced Gail Dolan, Vice President of Emergency Services. Gail will be representing Naples Community Hospital in place of Palma Fuson who has to resign her position due to work commitments. Lt. Orly Stolts, Assistant Training Office, was present in lieu of Captain Jim Tobin, the newly elected president of the Fire Chiefs Association. Fay Biles made a motion to accept the minutes of the December 17, 1997 meeting. 2"d by Rhona Saunders. Motion Passed. OLD BUSINESS: After a discussion on the meeting date Fay Biles made a motion the regular monthly meeting date be held on the last Wednesday of each month at 2:00 P.M. Rhona second the motion. Motion passed. The next regular meeting date will be February 25, 1998 at 2:00 P.M. 2 Chief Flagg, went over the options for the traffic on the Gordon River Bridge. Some of the options being looked at are: Far right hand lane being used as an emergency vehicle lane, radio controlled intersection, or pre-emption device. Special Risk: Chief Flagg, Chief report a positive outcome at the Board of Commissioners meeting. They agreed to a Resolution of Support for Special Risk to provide to the State House and Senate. The Florida Association of EMS, EMS Providers, Florida EMS Advisory Council have all supported the Special Risk legislation, and Senator Chris will be the sponsor. This bill passed the House in last years legislation. It never made it to the Senate last year. Fay Biles questioned Chief Flagg about the statement Dr. Tober made at the Board of Commissioners presentation for Special Risk reference EMS losing 40 Paramedics in the past few year. Chief Flagg stated we recently had a paramedic who had been with EMS for 3 years and left to go to Marco Island Fire and make more money and have better benefits and not have near the responsibilities. Chief Flagg stated a Task Team had been working on a salary survey, using the League of Cities Salary Survey. They have prepared a proposal, presented it to the County Administrator, and are in the process of making some changes and will present the proposal again. Gail Dolan stated maybe the retention salary needed to be looked at instead of the entry. Chief Flagg stated that is what Task Team addressed. Fay Biles wanted to know if the gentlemen that went to Marco was an EMT or Paramedic, as most the of men at Marco were EMT's. Chief Flagg stated he was a Paramedic and is going to Marco Island to become a firefighter. There are eight to nine employees that are crossed trained firefighters and paramedics, and another fifteen to twenty that are enrolled in fire school right now. Data Collection: Chief Flagg stated the Data Collection Project is on tract. It will put this system well out in front of any other system in the state in terms of data collection, data retrieval, being able to do research projects. There was not a program available to meet these needs. We brought in a Paramedic who has a tremendous level of expertise in writing computer software programs. He developed this program and we are now doing parallel testing where the software has been installed on the computers at the station. They are running the old system (bubble scan) along with the new (parallel test) to compare. The old system will then be eliminated. Miami Dade, a large system on the East Coast, they are just now going to the bubble scan system. That is how far ahead of the other systems we are in terms of data collection. 3 Jorge Aguilera stated we are exporting information to the Department of Revenue. Medics reports are converted to codes and the codes automatically converts to billing codes which saves the DOR many hours of manual work. Bob Laird stated the Advisory Board members talk to the Commissioners from time to time on various issue's and he requested when they happen to be in discussion with them to mention the Paramedic's salaries. Fay Biles asked if the starting salary was $7.69 an hour now, or was it going to $7.69 an hour. Chief Flagg stated that was now. Fay Biles inquired as to what the salary was would go to. Jorge Aguilera stated he didn't think the entry level would change from what he understood. Lt. Orly Stolts inquired if that was $7.69 for an EMT? Chief Flagg stated a Paramedic. Fay Biles inquired as to the latest on the Isles of Capri? Chief Flagg stated in terms of Isles of Capri, certainly if not one maybe more of the board members would like to focus on medicine and leave fire to the fire districts. East Naples Fire District is going to present a proposal to provide fire service on Isles of Capri and that will be presented to the Board and it's their decision as to what they will do. The next step is East Naples Fire District will present the proposal to the Isles of Capri Advisory Board, and that will be presented to the Board of County Commissioners. It is ultimately the Boards decision. Gary Young asked what would happen to the people who work for the Isles of Capri? Chief Flagg stated those were all things that would be worked out in the contract. They are certified firefighters. Chief Flagg also stated Chief Schank presented a proposal to his Fire Commission and his Fire Commission approved the proposal. Faye Biles stated some of the residents of Isles of Capri also belong to Marco Island Taxpayers Association, and they don't agree with the Isles Advisory Committee they don't want East Naples to step in. Faye Biles inquired about Ochopee Fire. Chief Flagg stated she was asked to prepare a presentation to look at creating an Independent District for Ochopee and Isles of Capri. Faye Biles asked if it wasn't cheaper to go through the County than to create an Independent District? Chief Flagg stated cost was one consideration, but again that will be up to the County Commissioners. Paul Gunther-Mohr inquired as to the situation on Marco now? Fay Biles stated the Fire District is no longer. The special district was dissolved when it became a City. They now work for the City. What happen with the Union, when the Incorporation went through, somebody approved the Union contract, no one knew about it. It had to be appealed in thirty days, no one knew about it. So it has gone through. The City wants to dissolve the Union. Paul Gunther-Mohr stated he heard something about Marco having its own EMS. He wanted to know if that was a possibility? Chief Flagg stated she did not read that article. In terms of an EMS system there is a state law that the Board of County Commissioners have to issue a Certificate of Need before anyone can have an EMS system. The Board at this point has been very firm that they want a single consistent approach to emergency medicine in the municipality which includes the City of Naples and the City of 4 Marco, and the balance of Collier County. Because of that Florida Statute there can be no other EMS system unless the Board of County Commissioners approve of one. NEW BUSINESS: Chief Flagg informed the Advisory Board of the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) Program. The department will be kicking off a public access program that will make it easier for John Q. Public then what the state law requires. In terms of state law they took the AED and moved them under "Good Samaritan Act", but because the AED is a medical device it requires the prescription of a physician before they can use it. Consequently, throughout the State of Florida, most physicians throughout our state will be unwilling to write a prescription. What we are going to do throughout Collier County is to implement a public access program where we take reliability and responsibility so they don't have to worry about a prescription. We will completely remove all the barriers in getting the AED out to the community and provide the training to them and seek to place the AED on law enforcement vehicles, fitness centers, condominium's, areas of large gatherings, areas that are difficult to access with emergency vehicles. This will be the first system in the nation to have a program like this. We are working on a national level on design for this program for the community. The manufacturers are coming to us and are donating fifty AED's. The AED's cost generally from $2500 To $5000 a piece, and they are willing to donate this for the Public Access Program. Faye Biles inquired if we will be able to receive publicity on this program. Chief Flagg stated we are in the final stages of covering the distributing the AED's, we are waiting on it to come from the County Attorneys office. It should prove to be an outstanding program. We implemented the AED program twelve years ago with the fire departments, but that is not where they belong due to EMS & fire units generally arriving at the same time. They need to accessible to the public so as soon as the cardiac event occurs, John Q. Public has it accessible for initial treatment. Roger Evans brought up the security issue in the Health Building. He stated with the confidentiality of the EMS Department he felt the Advisory Council should be informed. Something that is being considered, hopefully it will survive the budgetary effort next budget session is the card system. This system is in place in Building "F". The Advisory Board could help with this issue with a statement of concern at the next budget session. Along this same line Rhona Saunders informed the committee members of a Symposium on How to Reduce Crime in Collier County. The Speakers will be Chief Rambosk City of Naples Police and Emergency Services and Collier County Sheriff Don Hunter. It is being presented by the Naples Press Club to be held on February 17, 1998 - 7:00 to 9:00 P.M at the Teleford Building, Naples Community Hospital. Lt. Orly Stolts stated he appreciated the opportunity to be a part of the group and was very appreciated for the opportunity to work with the medics of Collier County. Gail Dolan wanted everyone to know the new emergency room at Naples Community Hospital is now open and invited everyone to stop by, 5 Chief Flagg advised the Emergency Management Department became a part of the Emergency Services Department as of January 1, 1998. They were previously a part of the Risk Management Department. Jeff Page reported on the Community Emergency Service Response Team (CERT). This is a group of public safety professionals such as , Sheriff's Office, EMS, Fire, & Emergency Management that will be educating community members how to take care of themselves and their neighbors, in standard first aid, for several hours while waiting for professional help in the event of a hurricane, tornado, explosion, etc. Chief Flagg informed the committee of the S.A.L.T., Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, Council. This a group that was started by the Sheriff's Office and they included EMS, and will institute the "File of Life". This is a file that can be placed on a refrigerator and will include medical and personal information to be used by all public safety personnel. Fay Biles made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Gunther-Mohr. Meeting adjourned. Respectfully submitted, 6 • • EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ADVISORY COUNCIL (EMSAC) AGENDA January 28, 1998 2:00 P.M. HEALTH BUILDING 3" FLOOR 3301 EAST TAMIAMI TRIAL CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS Please note: Due to unavoidable commitments - the January meeting date has been changed to the fourth Wednesday, January 28, 1998.