The April meeting of the Bayfield-Ashland Counties EMS Council was called to order by Dean Hambrecht, President of the Council. The meeting was held in the Stockton Island Room at MMC/Ashland.

Motion made by Ron Brendalen, seconded by Teresa Gunderson, to approve the minutes of the March meeting as written. Motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT – Chuck Elton reported that there is a balance of $5,478.68 at present. All dues have been paid.

Motion made by Teresa Gunderson, seconded by Tam Hoffman, to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented. Motion carried.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

MDAC (Medical Director Advisory Committee) – John Schulz, medical director reported on the two major discussions at the MDAC.

1. C-Spine immobilization – use of clinical indicators vs. mechanism of injury alone to dictate whether or not to board and collar a patient. The MDAC discussed adding an educational program and QI (quality improvement) component to the current protocol. Recommendation: suspend C-spine immobilization based on clinical indicators at this time. Jan Victorson will email notification to EMS contacts.

2. Medical/physical requirements for working as an EMT. Suggestion that the Council may want to develop guidelines in order to provide help to services that might have future issues with driving or EMT performance.

More quality assurance as well as training on individual SOGs may be possible in the future. Dr. Schulz encourages feedback from all related to these and any issues. Email works well – [email protected]

RTAC (Regional Trauma Advisory Council) – Jan reported on the RTAC meeting held earlier today. Excellent discussion on need for public education. RTAC voted to purchase 30,000 of the “Procedures for Emergency Care” brochure and distribute for use throughout the region. There was also discussion related to triage training throughout the region.

EMS and Fire Public Awareness and Recruitment Campaign – Be SOMEBODY is the theme of the May 14 – 15 standby event being held throughout Douglas, Bayfield and Ashland Counties. Volunteer fire and ambulance personnel are standing by from 3:00 on Friday afternoon until 3:07 on Saturday afternoon to raise public awareness that we are and that we need additional help providing emergency services. Signs “HELP WANTED” and “Be SOMEBODY” are available for use during the event. News releases will encourage people to stop by, ask questions about equipment and vehicles, etc.

BAYFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT – Jan Victorson reported that the supplies and equipment for the mass casualty/equipment trailer purchased through homeland security funding are arriving. The trailer will be stored at the Washburn Fire Hall with the understanding they may use equipment as required and will pull the trailer to locations when requested and paged through the communications center. Discussion about having a Council meeting in Washburn to begin stocking the trailer in the near future.

Enhanced 9-1-1 is up and running in Bayfield County. It seems to be going well. Discussion related to purchase of 9-1-1 stickers for ambulances at $7.05 each.

Motion made by Teresa Gunderson, seconded by Tam Hoffman, to purchase 50 “Emergency – Dial 9-1-1” stickers with the idea that each service would reimburse the Council for their costs. Motion carried.

Radio SOGs are being mailed out to each department. The main change is the protocol for paging with two pages initially. If no acknowledgement by either radio or telephone, wait two minutes and issue second page. If there is still no acknowledgement the dispatcher will page the most appropriate department. This will cut the “wait” time from eight minutes to four. Once a departments acknowledges a page, the department owns it. If additional assistance is needed, the person who acknowledged the page needs to ask.

GLIDDEN – Glidden is having their 25^th Anniversay Brat Feed on Friday, May 28^th beginning at 4:00 PM. Art Nelson is retiring after 31 years on the service.

NEXT MEETING – The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for Thursday, May 27^th in Mason at 7:30 PM.

Motion made by Tam Hoffman, seconded by Keith Tveit, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.

IN ATTENDANCE

Not recorded.