Present: Teale, Meeker, Hunjadi, Playman, TeStroete, Schilder, Blount, Madigan
Notified Absent: McCarrier, Merrill, Weir
Absent Without 48-hour notice: Zurbuchen
Called to order by President Meeker at 12:00 PM
April Meeting Minutes: Change the second for the motion to approve a stipend for the outgoing association secretary to Teale not Madigan. Motion by TeStroete second by Madigan to approve the minutes as corrected. All in favor. Motion carried.
Department Reports:
Conference: Meeker outlined the agenda for the conference. All speaker contracts are slated to be mailed July 12, 1999. There were no questions to the report.
Legislation:
Do Not Resuscitate: Placed into the budget bill and has been
accepted as an amendment.
Length of Service Awards: Passes first committee. Failed
as an amendment to the budget bill. Will likely go to Joint Finance.
Fees & Fines: The Wisconsin EMS Association successfully
got the plan removed from the budget bill.
Public Access Defibrillation: On the Governor's desk waiting
to be signed. Indications are he will sign the bill.
Caregiver Background Checks: An amendment has been accepted
into the budget bill which will exempt all EMTs and First Responders.
General: All legislative activity centers around the budget
bill. The bill has gone to conference committee and is being hotly
debated due to other items than those of interest to the association.
It is anticipated DNR, and Caregiver Background Checks will remain
as voted. Fees & Fines will remain removed from the bill.
Old Business
Fire & EMS Coalition: Meeker and Hunjadi were present at the last meeting of the coalition. There was wide acceptance from all but one member group of the coalition to add the Wisconsin EMS Association to the group. To allow this group the opportunity to support WEMSA joining, a motion was made to take a paper ballot in July which is after this group's board meeting. It is expected that the Wisconsin EMS Association will become a member at that time.
EMS Rule Changes: Rule changes have been forwarded to council within DHFS. Since that time, several other changes have been proposed. The latest changes potentially will include an increase in hours for EMT-Basic training from 120 hours to a maximum of 132. The increase in hours would include training to provide the administration of Albuterol, Glucagon, and Aspirin. Some WEMSA board members expressed concern that the increase in hours and a mandate to include the additional training could be another hardship for some of Wisconsin's EMT-Basic services. Other opinions included the fact that the FAP funds will pay for the additional skills training in the original course but will not pay for stand alone additional courses. It is also easier to train for these skills initially rather than as an add-on course. Other board members expressed concern for adding glucagon. Motion by Teale second by Madigan to support 132 hours as suggested by the state of Wisconsin for the minimum length of the EMT-Basic training program with no maximum set in rule. Three in favor, four opposed, one abstain. Motion defeated.
First Responder: The second draft of our first responder bill has been reviewed and returned to the legislative reference bureau. There were 9 questions that were asked of us by the bureau. These questions have been answered and 10 other changes have been made by us. We are now waiting for the third draft to be returned.
Templates Project: Mike Wellner reports he has contacted about fifty services across the United States. To date, only three have returned their samples although others have committed to send them. Wellner requests that the WEMSA Board submit their samples of bylaws, protocols, policies, release forms, etc. Meeker, Blount, Madigan, will provide their samples.
Board Member Standards: Madigan distributed the final draft of board member standards. Motion by Schilder, second by TeStroete to accept the draft as board policy. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Board Member Planning Session: It was previously decided that the planning session would take place in Milwaukee. Discussion to hold Friday evening and Saturday during the day. Consensus is to hold the session on October 22 & 23, 1999 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM and 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
Legislative Testimony For Association: Steve Wunsch was contacted and had interest in testifying for the Wisconsin EMS Association as needed. Additional time will need to be spent with Steve and to identify additional candidates.
2001 Cruise: Our tax advisor informed that a cruise is not tax deductible except for the time spent in education. Based on this information, it is advised that we hold the cruise only for recreation value to the members. Hunjadi reported that prices for March, 2001 are not yet available. Time-table is to be able to announce and take bookings for the cruise by January 1, 2000. More information should be available for board members to review and act upon at the October meeting.
Letter of Complaint: A letter was received from EMS Planning and Consulting Associates retracting their prior letter of complaint discussed at the April meeting. The letter retracts the earlier accusations and apologizes for them. No further action on this issue.
Financial Review: TeStroete reported that the financial review was completed for both 1997 and 1998. A written report was provided to the board of directors. Ten findings were stated. Six recommendations were made for areas of future improvement in the accounting process. Motion by Madigan, second by Playman to accept the report as presented. Seven in favor, none opposed, one abstain. Motion carried.
Bylaw change: As discussed at two prior meetings and presented in writing, intentions are to alter the bylaws to set the number of board members at twelve. Motion by Playman, second by TeStroete to amend the bylaws to hold a board of twelve people. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Executive Manager Review: Motion by Teale second by TeStroete
to move into closed session for the purposes of completing the
Executive Manager job evaluation. Motion carried. Moved into closed
session.
Motion by Teale second by Blount to return to open session. All
in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Motion by TeStroete second by Madigan, to present a $3,000 bonus
in accordance with the current contract for executive management.
Seven in favor, none opposed, one abstain. Motion carried.
New Business
Revised Poster: Hunjadi has completed revisions on the 1996 poster displaying the locations of ambulance services in Wisconsin. Motion by Schilder second by Madigan to add helicopter services and print 5,000 copies with lamination, UV coating, or other type of finish. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried. Further discussion after the passage of the motion was to investigate signifying WEMSA service members as part of a future poster.
Dispatcher Certification: A legislator has contacted the association with the plan to introduce legislation that would require 40 hours of training and certification to become a dispatcher. Motion by Madigan, second by Blount to support the concept of certification for Wisconsin emergency communicators. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
Awards Standards: Teale presented a draft of potential benchmarks for use in the awards process. Discussion followed with board members supporting the draft. Potential exists for the criteria items to be included as part of the nomination papers so participants are aware of them and can either address them in the nomination or directly answer the questions/criteria. Teale to continue to develop and complete prior to next board meeting.
Provider Alliance/Group Buying: Meeker and Hunjadi have met with representatives of the alliance for the purposes of expanding their group buying to include WEMSA service members. The association has done price comparisons and has found that the group buying prices indeed are lower than what we were able to purchase at. Motion by TeStroete to create a memorandum of understanding by which the Wisconsin EMS Association will provide secretary support to include mailings, minutes, flyers, etc. to the provider alliance in exchange for affiliation for the group buying currently provided by the alliance. Second by Teale. All in favor, none opposed. Motion carried.
EMT-I Curriculum: Points for use in drafting a position statement relating to Wisconsin's use of the new national EMT-I curriculum were discussed. Motion by Playman, second by Teale to support the skills, medications, and competencies of the national EMT-I curriculum for purposes of reciprocity and national registry exam eligibility. Seven in favor, one abstain. Motion carried. Motion by Playman that WEMSA supports the investigation of alternative and creative methods and support funding to foster the continued provision and transition of EMT-I in Wisconsin. Second by TeStroete. All in favor. None opposed.
EMS Managers Contacts List: Hunjadi reports that there are increasing numbers of members that are requesting referrals to individuals or companies that might be able to provide support to their service. He would like to begin creating a qualified list of potential people with areas of expertise for EMS that could be used versus he making referrals based upon his knowledge of these individuals alone. Consensus was to develop a plan to begin a referral process. Board members were directed to submit potential candidates to the office along with the candidate's areas of expertise.
Conference Budget: Tabled to the October meeting to convene a committee to review 2000 conference budget accounting.
Executive Managers Contract: Tabled to the October meeting to appoint a committee to review the next contract for Executive Management for the association. The current contract will expire April 1, 2000. By contract, HG Studio has the first right of refusal for renewal.
Motion by Teale to adjourn, second by Playman. All in favor. None opposed.
Action Items: