The November-December 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 Board Room of Memorial Medical Center/Ashland.

Motion made by Gary Victorson, seconded by Cindy Lazorik, to approve the minutes of the October meeting as presented. Motion carried.

No Treasurer’s Report.

MDAC – The Medical Director Advisory Committee met earlier. One of the issues discussed was the ER staffing at MMC. SMC currently has the contract o provide 24/7 physician coverage for the ER. That contract will not be renewed 01/31. Several bids have been received for ER physician coverage. There are no plans to stop on-line medical control but may have more challenges with the unpredictable staffing. A surgeon is not always present and ambulances may be told to go to Duluth if that is a choice. Orthopedics continues to be covered at MMC.

Kevin Thornton reported that the state has approved clearing C-spine in the field with a protocol in place. Our protocol is in place and EMTs are encouraged to assess patients and clear C-spines in the field as appropriate.

Audit of runs continues. Merrilee is currently compiling data from last year. She may have the data at the next meeting. This should be an internal tool for services to use as well.

Other discussions included estimated HIPAA compliance and law enforcement use of AEDs, both of which were postponed to the Council meeting. The only requirement of an agency participating in a public access AED program is to notify the local ambulance provider that an AED is located in the response area.

Some backboards have been found to have metal stays running up and down hidden in the plastic of the backboard. This was discovered during a CT scan making it difficult to read the scan. Services are encouraged to ask vendors about metal in backboards when looking at purchase.

The MDAC will be looking at the state SOGs for pediatric emergency care at their next meeting.

RTAC – The Lake Superior Regional Trauma Advisory Committee (LSRTAC) has been reviewing trauma guidelines. The guidelines developed by the LSRTAC are being accepted by other RTACs throughout the state. A needs assessment is being mailed to each ambulance service provider to be filled out and returned. Questions about the survey can be brought to the next Council meeting.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT – Jan Victorson reported that she is working with Jim Thayes on a Rural AED grant. Discussion about priorities for AED placement. She also reported that the Mass Casualty Trailer is in the final stages of development and should be ready in January. Discussion about regional approach to Mass Casualty planning.

PAED (Public access Automated External Defibrillation) – Discussion about which law enforcement agencies currently have AEDs in their squad cars. Ashland County has 2 AEDs; Police Departments in Bayfield County that have AEDs are Bayfield, Iron River, Red Cliff and Washburn Police Departments. The only requirement of an agency participating in a public access AED program is to notify the local ambulance provider that an AED is located in the response area.

WITC – Cindy Lazorik reported that the new EMT class is scheduled to begin January 15^th. Contact the school to fill out an application. Refreshers will be conducted in Glidden and Ashland beginning in January. First Responder course will be offered at Northland; a First Responder Refresher in Iron River. The Emergency Services Conference is scheduled for the weekend of March 13^th. Information on BELSS (Basic Emergency Lifesaving Skills for Schools) and GEMS (Geriatric EMS) will be presented during a pre-conference.

ARROWHEAD CONFERENCE – Information was distributed on the Arrowhead Conference scheduled in January.

COMMUNICATIONS USER BOARD – Gary Victorson reported that the Bayfield County Communication User Board met and continued the discussion on use of plain text. The consensus at the committee meeting was that services should begin using plain text anytime. This approach is intended to make things easier. Paging protocol is changing slightly. Two pages will be completed; if no acknowledgement within 2 minutes, a second page issued; if no acknowledgement within 2 minutes, the dispatcher is authorized to make a mutual aid decision and page the appropriate department. EMTs are encouraged to acknowledge the page using “service name – EMT – last name – acknowledge the page, enroute to the (hall, scene, etc.)”. Once the page has been acknowledged, decisions related to that call are owned by the service.

Discussion about importance of the correct town relayed with the location information during a page.

ASHLAND RATE INCREASE – Mellen expressed concern about the Ashland increase in rates. They sent a letter to Ashland saying “no” to the increase. Discussion. Ashland is not represented and would like to discuss this and other issues at a future meeting.

NEXT MEETING – The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for January 22^ndat 7:30 PM at the Mason Emergency Services Training Room, Mason.

Motion made by Gary Victorson, seconded by Ron Brendalen, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.

IN ATTENDANCE

Bill Andresen Bayfield

Ron Brendalen Mellen

Merrilee Carlson MMC/Ashland

Dan Diamon Gold Cross

Dean Hambrecht Great Divide

Tam Hofman South Shore

Cindy Lazorik WITC

Rob Puhls Great Divide

Dorothy Tank Ashland County EM

Kevin Thornton Medical Director

Gary Victorson Iron River, Mason

Jan Victorson Bayfield County EM