Wisconsin EMS Association
Board of Directors Meeting
October 14, 2007

Present: Allen, Averbeck, Barker, Hunjadi, Meeker, Schilder, Schindler, Van Buren

Notified Absent: Carey, Hornby, McCarrier, Teale

Meeting called to order by President Meeker at 12:05 PM

Motion by Allen, second by Schilder, to accept the meeting minutes as presented with one typo change. Change the word purse to pursue. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

President:  President Meeker began by introducing Michael Hood as the new association Director of Sales and Customer Service. Hood started with the association on September 1, 2007. Meeker went on to provide an extensive report on this trip to EMS Expo in Orlando Florida. He and the new Sales Director, Mike Hood went to the event last week. Meeker also reported that while there he had some opportunity to speak with the president of NAEMT regarding affiliation. As was suspected, the removal of the board of governors will now allow for multiple organizations to “affiliate” with NAEMT. However, the ability to seat someone on the board is no longer the prevue of the affiliated association. Because this was one of the only reasons WEMSA considered an affiliation, Meeker let the president know that this might become a deal breaker. They will have additional information toward the end of the year. Motion by Van Buren, second by Schindler to table the movement to affiliate with NAEMT at this time. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Vice President: Nothing

Secretary/Treasurer:  Nothing

Executive Director: Hunjadi reported that Toni Ihler had been relived of her duties with the Wisconsin EMS Association. It had become very clear that she was not a good fit for the position. In fact, he believes we should have made this move six months ago. Since her departure we have continued to find holes including advertisements that did not have a contract and therefore the companies do not want to pay us, failure to return telephone calls and to keep meeting appointments. He said that Ihler was very talented in several areas, but lacked the necessary skills and drive for the sales end of the position. Hunjadi has hired Michael Hood who is a firefighter and EMT with the Town of Raymond. In addition to close proximity to the main office, Hood has an extensive background in sales, marketing and customer service, most recently with US Cellular where he worked in corporate sales. He has already been doing an extremely professional productive job for the organization. All group buying contracts have been completed with expiration dates of December 31, 2008. Software upgrades have been completed – most in the publishing end of the organization, as well as a new laptop for Hood. The desktop that he would have received has instead gone to Debi Blazei rather than replacing her old computer with a new desktop.

Conference:  Hunjadi reported that the main mailing of 31,000 conference brochures will go into the mail on Wednesday, October 17. They were held up when the UV Coater at Times Printing was broken and unable to be repaired. They were able to get us 500 brochures for Orlando without the UV Coating. There are approximately 4,000 brochures left that Mike Hood will use during face to face meetings as well as travels throughout northern Illinois. Secondary mailings to educators, managers and other sub groups will also include the brochures. Meeker outlined the policy on comps for board members as well as volunteer staff members and answered board members questions.

2007 Cruise:  Hunjadi reported on the results of the written cruise survey that was completed since the last board meeting. Three areas seemed to be rather clear. 1. Do not use a departure port outside of the United States, due to much greater cost and more difficulty. 2. After having sailed on newer or brand new ships, going back to a 1997 ship was very clearly noticed by the cruisers. 3. Magic Carpet’s responsiveness and customer service both prior to and during the cruise took a noticeable slide backwards. Hunjadi and Meeker both reported that they receive inquiries regarding the next cruise events. Hunjadi has been working with Magic Carpet Travel to put together an extra cruise on an even year for Alaska. The largest problem stands in obtaining enough cabins at the introductory rate. Because of the short season and limited amount of ships, they know they will sell out and do not want to provide us with 200 cabins at a low rate. The most we have been able to secure is 50. The concern is that after those 50 are sold the price will rise considerably. At this time there are no firm plans for an Alaska Cruise for 2008. Information was provided for a potential cruise on our regular odd year schedule. We have been able to obtain very favorable pricing on a newer ship, the 2004 Carnival Valor. The departure city is Miami, which will have reasonable flight rates. Cost for inside is only $380. Oceanview is $500 and balcony is $670. Port charges and fees are $227 per person. The same concessions, group discounts and rebates would be in place. Tentative dates are either March 1, 2009 or March 15, 2009 with four ports of call. Motion by Allen to accept the Miami itinerary of March 15, 2009 with the requirement of Magic Carpet to increase customer service. Second by Van Buren. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS

State EMS Office/EMS Board: Not much has changed in the previous months since the last WEMSA Board meeting. The State EMS Office is still short staffed with only the EMT-Intermediate position completing interviews at this time. The EMS Advisory Board has been attempting to bring together stakeholders from throughout the state in an effort to find funding that is more stable for the office. Due to a mix up, neither Hunjadi nor Meeker attended the first meeting, which either became a large concern or simply an opportunity to complain that WEMSA did not attend. Meeker did attend the second meeting and Hunjadi the third. Unfortunately, no accomplishments to speak of have really been completed during these three meetings with a large number of people absent from the last one. Board members held discussion on the issues and believe that Hunjadi and Meeker should put together a meeting with Cal Lintz, the current Advisory Board chair along with Brian Litza, EMS Section Chief and Larry Gilbertson, the Bureau Director. The goal would be to have a frank and honest discussion related to how we see these and other issues and the ability and potential displayed thus far in being able to properly address the problems.

NAEMT Affiliation: Action in the form of a motion and vote was previously completed following the President’s report.

Mandated Driver Training: Hunjadi represented WEMSA and was actually the only non-governmental group to meet with a state legislator and his constituent who suffered the loss of his wife in a fatal accident with an ambulance. While the meeting was professional, it is relatively clear that the only thing that would be acceptable to the citizen is mandated driver training for all EMTs, First Responders and Firefighters throughout Wisconsin. This could entail as many as 40,000 people needing this training. Hunjadi did provide information on several programs that WEMSA is considering in order to prevent such a drastic requirement that would cost well over one million dollars to complete. He has not heard anything since the meeting took place this past May.

Job Protection Legislation: The Wisconsin EMS Association met with representatives and lobbyists from the Wisconsin State Fire Chief’s Association and the Wisconsin State Fire Fighter’s Association. All of the groups have previously attempted to get a form of job protection legislation passed to protect volunteers who arrive late to work because of an emergency scene. Previous legislative attempts have included a requirement to force employers to allow their employees to leave work to respond to an emergency. A total of nine other states have been identified that have similar legislation. Of these, it was unanimously decided by the three groups that we should model Wisconsin legislation based on the Ohio bill that was passed in 2000 without any descending votes. Hunjadi had previously provided board members with a copy of the legislation. The goal is to identify key legislators for introduction and then begin working on co-sponsors as well a getting a large grass roots support for the bill. Hunjadi reports that this could take a considerable amount of time and money to accomplish but believes that it is worth it for many WEMSA members. Motion by Van Buran, second by Averbeck to support the Ohio version of Job Protection Legislation. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

WEMSA Certified Training Center: Karen Barker has begun gathering information for the Wisconsin EMS Association to become a certified state training center at the EMT-Basic level. The main reason for the application is to be more flexible in providing future events and classes both at the annual conference and occasionally at smaller events throughout the state. As the training center ability grows, the association would also like to be able to help services at the First Responder and EMT-Basic level to obtain initial and refresher training. This would include in areas currently not served and with class sizes that may be smaller than 12. The Wisconsin EMS Association has no interest in completing classes where there is already adequate training available. It is the areas that members sometimes must drive 50 miles or more to obtain training that are of concern. The goal is to have the first draft of the operational plan completed by the end of this year.

Travel Web Site: Hunjadi had reported previously on his contact with a company seeking to launch a travel web site fronted by the Wisconsin EMS Association that would then provide a sales commission back to the association. In researching the company and the concept, the term “pyramid scheme” came up multiple times. That is coupled with an Internet infrastructure that Hunjadi believes is inferior to other current sites such as Travelocity and Expedia. Based on all of this information he recommends we not move forward with this project.

By Laws: Proposed bylaw changes were provided to all WEMSA Board Members at least 30 days prior to the board meeting. The proposed changes are limited to only a few sections. The main change addresses potential confusion within the section for availability for running for a board position based on current limits of no more than three individuals from the same organization. While the proposed changes were drafted as instructed, multiple board members became unsure if they actually wanted to make the changes or not. Additional discussion was held. Motion by Allen second by Averbeck to approve the bylaw changes as drafted with the exclusion of verbiage starting with “No greater than three and ending with American Heart Association, Etc.” All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.  Additional attempts at crafting text that meets with everyone’s concerns will be made for potential ratification at a future board meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Statewide Driver Training Program: Hunjadi provided information related to the position statement that will potentially be approved later in the meeting. The position statement indicates that all services should obtain formal driver training or create in-house training. Volunteer Fire Insurance Services (VFIS) already has a very complete train the trainer course that could be used in this project. He has already been in contact with Laub and Horton, the agents in Wisconsin for VFIS as well as the educator and author responsible for much of the content. They are very willing to partner with the Wisconsin EMS Association to train as many EMS providers throughout Wisconsin. Hunjadi hopes to be able to provide the necessary training throughout Wisconsin at as reasonable of a cost as possible for WEMSA Service and Corporate members. Motion by Schindler second by Allen to complete the driving training program, including partnering with VFIS and Laub & Horton. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Emergency Vehicle Operations Position Statement: Board members along with advisors were provided with a draft of a possible position statement related to emergency vehicle operations. The draft includes a total of seven points. Attorney Szymansky provided several changes for the draft. WEMSA Board members agreed with the majority of the position statement. Some discussion was held related to the use of red lights and siren on an interstate highway. Motion by Schilder second by Schindler to accept the Emergency Vehicle Operations policy as drafted with all stated changes. All in favor none opposed. Motion carried. The position statement will receive wide spread distribution to as many people involved in emergency vehicle operations as possible. This will include inclusion in the Hot Sheets, EMS Professionals and direct mail to members and stakeholders.

Clothing for Board Members: The supplier for clothing and products to the Wisconsin EMS Association identified a total of four shirt samples that he believes will work well for our use. Unfortunately, he failed to provide these samples in time for this meeting. Hunjadi will obtain the samples in the future and attempt to get an order placed following the board’s decision.

2008 Premium Item: Hunjadi offered several items as the 2008 premium items for membership. These included trauma shears, penlights and an association pin. Several board members raised their concern of the potential perceived drop in value following the current first responder bags. It was agreed by most board members that there is a limit to the types of items that will qualify for a premium item and it would be difficult to come up with outstanding items each and every year. Motion by Schilder second by Schindler to approve pen lights and an Association pin as the 2008 premium 7 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion carried.

Fred Hornby Resignation: The meeting was moved to closed session to discuss personnel matters. After returning to open session, Mary Schilder motioned and Mindy Allen seconded the motion to accept Hornby’s resignation All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Senate Bill 269: Hunjadi reported on the recent introduction of Senate Bill 269 along with companion bill AB 520 in the House. While the main point of the bill is to allow for tenants to get out of a lease under certain circumstances, tacked onto the end of the bill is a provision that would prohibit any municipality or their agency from charging for police, fire or emergency medical services. If passed, the bill would result in an estimated more than one billion dollars in lost revenue that would then have to be made up by an increase in property taxes. WEMSA Lobbyist Forbes McIntosh quickly made contact with the bill’s author as did the League of Municipalities and Alliance of Cities. We believe that an amendment will be introduced that will remove the charging restrictions from the bill. To date, WEMSA has been the only emergency services organization to become involved in the issue. Motion by Allen second by Van Buren to opposed SB 269/AB 520. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Pre-Employment Interview Exams: Hunjadi provided information about a company he has been working with that offers multiple legal and employment services including a pre-employment test. The purpose of the test is to find out much more about the background and nature of a potential volunteer or employee prior to their hire. The test looks at a variety of areas including drug use, ethics, customer service, tardiness, previous employment, and others. Following a written report, a company representative will then call the responsible person from the organization to go over the results with them over the telephone. There is typically a $250 flat charge to sign up for this service. Under the Group Buying Program they will remove this charge for all WEMSA Service and Corporate members. The cost of completing a pre-employment test is $18 per person. This meets strongly with our current mission statement to help with EMS management as many services, both volunteer and career, struggle not only to find staff members, but to find high quality, trustworthy people to fill these positions. Motion by Van Buren second by Averbeck to approve the pre-employee exam from Personnel Evaluation, Inc. as a Group Buying Member. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.

Some informational discussion was completed following the final agenda item. No action was made or taken from any of the subject topics.  Motion by Averbeck second by Allen to adjourn. Motion carried.  Meeting adjourned at 5:18 PM.