Call to Order: at 12:02 pm by President Richard Meeker.

Introductions: President Meeker introduced members of the Board of Directors who were present.

Motion by Terry Wise, second by John Hobson to approve the minutes of the previous annual meeting. Motion carried by a voice vote.

President Meeker introduced the members of the Board of Directors who were present.

Annual Reports: Executive Director Don Hunjadi gave an update on the financial status of the association and reviewed the financial statement that was distributed. The benefits that accompany membership in the organization were provided. Membership statistics were provided. Membership numbers are starting to level off because the pool of perspective members has decreased as membership has increased. Hunjadi reported that the conference has expanded to include a seventh track to allow for a fire track without decreasing any EMS education. Conference attendance has increased with the marketing to adjoining states. Meeker spoke on the renegotiations with the Midwest Center, as well as, the hotel facilities. After visiting several places and researching others, it is apparent that there are limited places that will accommodate a conference of this size. A contract has been negotiated for three years with the Midwest Center and will be presented to the WEMSA Board for approval.

Annual Report Questions

1. Is there a possibility of doing the conference twice a year?

Logistically, it is not feasible to duplicate the conference. We are able to consider doing smaller educational seminars.

2. Is there a way to reduce the hotel price and look for a better location?

Any attendee can stay at other hotels if they wish. The location, at this time, is the best available to suit our needs but we will always keep options open. Many other conference hotels are now in excess of $100/night including the WEMSA annual meeting.

Old/New Business

Headquarters Office and Staff Update: The move to build an office has been put on hold due to staffing changes. The land is still available and the association will have first rights to it. The Board will continue to reassess the need for moving ahead with the project. The position of Sales/PR Director is open with the resignation of Joe Covelli. An ad was placed in the magazine and members were encouraged bring forward any potential candidates for the position.

Statewide Recruitment Drive: A billboard campaign is being used to augment recruitment around the state. There are 12 billboards up at this time. The Outdoor Advertising Association of Wisconsin has donated over $500,000 in free billboard space to help off set the cost of this project. WEMSA has approved up to $40,000 for this project and the project will continue as long as there are funds. Calls to the main office, as a result of the billboards, are being directed to area EMS services.

Refresher changes: EMT-Basic refreshers may be changing to a competency based refresher. Instead of the current 30-hour refresher, it may be a matter of proving competencies to meet the refresher needs. The choice would still be available if someone wanted to stay with the current refresher format. The Board of Directors is looking for input from the members regarding this potential change.

Comments

There is a concern regarding the disparity (inconsistency) of instructors and evaluators
Proving competency may help participants take the refresher more seriously.
Majority of the group in attendance was in favor of Wisconsin having its own testing and not using National Registry.
Concern raised regarding the competence of new EMTs for actual care in the field
Comment made that the newest curriculum has been “dumbed down” and should return to more of a diagnostic, critical thinking curriculum.

Items from the Floor: President Meeker spoke on the importance of being a member of the Wisconsin EMS Association and that there are several openings on the Board of Directors.

Question from the floor

What does WEMSA think about the lack of an ambulance inspector?

Dan Williams reported that an inspector has been hired.

Why has the Board of Directors not changed and how come so many come from Southeastern Wisconsin?

Board member Mary Schilder explained that there are current openings and when the time comes for running for the board, there are very few applicants. In fact, often times there are not enough for an election. She stated that the association is always looking for qualified candidates and encouraged members to run. She also stated that the meetings are held in various places in the state and could not answer why members from other areas do not run for the board. The current board has no control over who runs or is elected by the membership. The board is only allowed to appoint a member when the membership fails to do so or in the case of a resignation.

A concern was raised regarding difficulty in dealing with the state EMS office. Although there are still isolated problems, since the new administration has been in place in the office, it seems to be better.

Hunjadi suggested that it might be time to complete another customer service survey to find out how the EMS Section has been doing addressing the needs of Wisconsin EMS services. President Meeker thanked Dan Williams for his support of WEMSA and encouraged members to bring any problems to Williams and to help support Williams in his position.

A motion was made by Debra Repman and seconded by Barb Kroll to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 1:01 pm.