BIG COUNTRY RAC
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
JANUARY 19, 2011
Roll call:H. T. Fillingim, ChairFisher County Hospital
Grant Madden, Vice-ChairSweetwater Fire Dept.
Bobbie L. Collom, SecretaryNorth Runnels Hospital EMS
Deloris Londerholm, TreasurerHendrick Medical Center
Laura WhartonAbilene Regional Medical Center
Robert WimberleyAnson EMS
Lexie FeistBrownwood Regional Hospital
Joshua RankinCisco VFD
Ray WilsonCitizens EMS
Russel ThomasColeman County EMS
Deanna MartinComanche Co. Med. Ctr
Matt HansenComanche Co Med Ctr EMS
George MathewsCross Plains EMS
Marylou HeltonEastland Hospital
Todd BarnesEastland EMS
Jonathan GalinakEula VFD
Patsy LeFevreFisher Co. Hospital
Josie FillingimFisher County Hospital EMS
Scott BolesHamlin EMS
Melissa LeeHamlin Memorial Hospital
Joseph LogsdonHaskell Memorial Hospital
David AllmanHawley VFD
Jackie CozbyJim Ned VFD
Sheila KuehlerKnox County Hospital
Haley MorrowKnox County EMS
Pam OrsbornMerkel EMS
Andrew CargileMitchell Co. EMS
Cindy HaleMitchell County Hospital
Gary ValerianoNative Air
Loretta BronsteinNorthLake Brownwood VFD/EMS
Matt RichardsonRanger VFD
Jason TylerScurry Co. EMS
Steven HobbsShackelford Co. EMS
Tim BrannonSouth Taylor EMS
Tammy HeidenheimerStamford EMS
Harriet WhiteStamford Memorial Hospital
Stephenie MillerStephens Co EMS
Alicia WhittStephens Co Hospital
LeeAnn FraserStonewall Memorial Hospital
Kena WhitfieldThrockmorton Co EMS
Randy KingThrockmorton Hospital
Marlee PuckettExecutive Coordinator
Guest: Gary Griffith, DSHS.
Members not in attendance: Abilene Fire Dept., AirEvac-Abilene, Anson Hospital, Coleman Co. Med. Ctr, ECCA, Guardian EMS, Hamby VFD, Haskell County Ambulance Service, Mulberry Canyon VFD, PK Westlake EMS(attends another RAC), Rolling Plains Hospital, Tri-City (attends another RAC).
Meeting called to order at 1010 by H. T. Fillingim, Chair. A quorum is present.
Minutes of the last meeting are posted on the RAC website. Motion to approve the minutes as posted by Russel Thomas, second by Marylou Helton; all in favor, none opposed.
Financial Report presented by Marlee Puckett:
Tobacco Funds$ 18,690.29
EMS RAC 29,431.53
Dues 48,327.18
EMS County 71,061.88
Motion to approve the financial report by Gary Valeriano, second by David Allman, all in favor, none opposed.
Bylaw Review: Article 4, Section 4.2.4(K) of the bylaws has been amended to read,
“Submit completed performance improvement reports quarterly on or before the due date set for said reporting by the PI Committee” as approved at the last general assembly meeting in October.
Grant Review by Marlee Puckett: The second disbursement has been received from the State. The deadline to request Tobacco funds is January 31, 2011. As of the date of this meeting, 21 providers have requested funds, provided the proper documentation; and have been paid. If you are interested in receiving this $1,000 disbursement, you need to get your invoices and cancelled checks to Marlee prior to the 1/31/11 deadline. The monies not spent by the deadline will be reallocated to those entities who submitted their paperwork in a timely manner. The amount of the reallocation will be determined after the deadline has passed.
The deadline for the EMS County funds is March 31, 2011. As of the date of this meeting, nine providers have received their monies.
EMS RAC funds are used for administrative expenses.
Committee Review: H. T. reminded everyone that committees may have meetings at any time other than at the scheduled RAC meetings. A copy of the minutes of any meetings should be turned in to Bobbie so the meeting can be documented.
PI Committee: Deloris said she did receive several of the PI reports even though they were not actually due because it was decided at the last general assembly meeting that the dates for reporting would be changed to the calendar year, i.e.: Jan-Mar info will be due on or before Apr 30; Apr-June due July 31, July-Sept due Oct 31st; and Oct-Dec due Jan 31st. Also, the PI committee will work on revising some of the language in the reports and would like to have them posted on the website in a format so they can be emailed to Deloris rather than mailed or faxed. The first report that will apply to compliance will be the first quarter of 2011 (Jan-Mar) and will be due on or before April 30, 2011.
Education Committee – Alicia reminded everyone that the funds are being distributed and the deadline is 1/31/11. Hendrick is offering TNCC and ENPC courses and Deloris brought some flyers with the course dates on them. If you are interested, contact Deloris Londerholm at Hendrick. There will be an AMLS course in Coleman on March 3-4, 2011 and the cost is $150; contact Russel Thomas if you are interested. There was a general discussion on some of the courses which might be needed for hospital designation or redesignation, such as the TOPICS and Trauma Coordinator; also CEN may become a required course. Alicia mentioned that she had purchased a short video for her hospital concerning suicide awareness and prevention in both the prehospital and emergency department setting. She purchased the video from Envisions. The new STEMI coordinator from Hendrick, Andrea Lambe, said that facility will be having an 8 hr class on EKG/STEMI. The Stroke Coordinator from Hendrick was also in attendance.
Injury Prevention – Randy King says this committee recommends that the residual funds not distributed from the Tobacco monies be reallocated to entities that have already requested funding and any other residual funds will be rolled over into the Rescue Me Project. The committee is also looking into leaflets for distribution to schools, at health fairs, etc to heighten awareness/prevention. Russell Thomas made a motion to accept the injury prevention committee’s recommendation regarding the residual funds with a deadline of 6/30/11 for this distribution; David Allman seconded the motion; all in favor, none opposed.
Finance Committee – Grant Madden says the committee has asked that the travel mileage, perdiem, lodging, etc be listed separately on the reports. The RAC does still have a storage unit and the RAC files are kept there.
Stroke/STEMI – Matt Hansen says the committee is happy to welcome the two new members from Hendrick to the committee and feels their input will be valuable.
Hospital Committee – Sheila Kuehler says this committee would like to see a list of the TNCC/ENPC instructors in our RAC in order to see what kind of a pool we have of these instructors and where the need is. There was mention made of a bypass/diversion subcommittee and there is no such subcommittee and the wording needs to be changed.
Open Forum –The executive committee has approved moving the broadband service to Clearwire as it comes with a fax that will send directly to Marlee’s email. The new fax number is 877-412-3701
FY11 Uncompensated Trauma Care application is due 3/31/11, and is available on the DSHS website.
RAC-D single audit determination has been successfully completed.
The pool entrapment drowning presentation which was made at the November GETAC meeting is available for viewing on the DSHS trauma website and the link in on our website under the education tab.
First Responders interested in free used equipment should contact the Council of Governments in their region.
Marlee is going to take the Rescue Me Project to some of the daycare centers in Abilene; and will also take the project to outlying areas if there is an interest.
The executive committee conducted Marlee’s annual evaluation, and would recommend to the general assembly, based on her outstanding performance of duties and the fact that she has been of primary importance to the RAC in meeting deadlines, timely filing of all reports, and handling the day-to-day business of the RAC in an efficient and professionalmanner, that her salary increase from $20/hr to $22/hr. Todd Barnes made a motion to increase Marlee Puckett’s pay rate from $20/hr to $22/hr; second by Laura Wharton; all in favor, none opposed. The Executive Committee also recommended to the general assembly that H.T.’s laptop be replaced. On motion by Todd Barnes to replace the laptop and purchase the accident/warranty coverage at a cost not to exceed $1500.00, second by Tammy Heidenheimer, all in favor, none opposed.
Becky Harmon has had to resign her position as Treasurer. Deloris Londerholm has been appointed to this position in the interim until the post can be filled by election at the April meeting of the RAC.
NativeAir has been recertified by CAMTS.
There was a general discussion among the membership with concerns abou thealthcare funding cuts at the State level. Everyone is urged to contact their local congressional representative/senator and urge them not to support these cuts. There will be a march in Austin on 2/22/11. If you are going to attend the march on the capitol in support of healthcare, it is suggested that you wear your work uniform or a t-shirt that has been designed specifically for the march. The TETAF website posts updates to legislative changes, etc.
Eula VFD is having a raffle fundraiser. See the Eula representative if you are interested.
H.T and Josie Fillingim have been appointed to the Stroke and STEMI committees,
respectively, at GETAC.
Motion to adjourn at 1507 by Russel Thomas, second by Alicia Whitt; all in favor, none opposed. The BCEMSPO meeting immediately following the RAC meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
Bobbie L. Collom
Secretary