ADIRONDACK-APPALACHIAN

REGIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES COUNCIL

2920 State Route 30

PO Box 212

Speculator, New York 12164

Telephone (518) 548-3535 * 1-800-952-7367 - FAX Phone (518) 548-7605

e-mail:

www.aarems.org

AAREMS REMAC MEETING

Thursday, March 15, 2012

HOLIDAY INN, JOHNSTOWN, NY 12095

[Approved Motions are shown in bold face]

MINUTES

MEMBERS OF REMAC AND STAFF ATTENDING:

William Averill Howard Hime David Markowitz, MD

Todd Duthaler, DO August Leinhart, MD Joyce Mulleedy, RN

David Fanion, MD Bonnie Looman, RN Philip Mulleedy

William Fisher, MD

MEMBERS OF REMAC AND STAFF ABSENT AND EXCUSED:

Lewis Jones, RN Gene Pellerin, DO

MEMBERS OF COUNCIL AND GUESTS PRESENT:

Bonnie Burtman, RN Steve Hood Deb Kufs, RN

Sidney Chase Howard Huth, III Beth McGown

Donald Coy Richard Kersmanc Elizabeth J. Putman

Jack Farquhar Brian Knapp Michael Swartz

Joseph Farrell

*

The meeting was called to order at 10:40 AM. Dr. August Leinhart, Committee Chair, presided. A voting quorum of physicians was present.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE JANUARY 19, 2012 MEETING

The Minutes of the January 19, 2012 meeting had been previously distributed to all members in a timely manner. Dr. Leinhart made a Motion that was seconded by Dr. Fanion, as follows:

RESOLVED, that the Minutes of the January 19, 2012 meeting are approved as written.

This was adopted unanimously, with no abstentions.

NEW BUSINESS

Approval of Dr. Peter Sosnow as New Service Medical Director for Delhi

Mr. Mulleedy advised that an application for service medical director has been received from Dr. Peter Sosnow for the Delhi Fire Department Emergency Squad. The application was reviewed by the physicians. Motion was made by Dr. Fisher and seconded by Dr. Duthaler, as follows:

RESOLVED, that Dr. Peter Sosnow is approved as service medical director for the Delhi Fire Department Emergency Squad.

This was adopted unanimously, with no abstentions.

Review and Approval of Laurens Fire District Controlled Substance Plan

Dr. Markowitz presented the controlled substance plan for the Laurens Fire District Emergency Squad. It was reviewed by the physicians. Motion was made by Dr. Fisher and seconded by Dr. Fanion, as follows:

RESOLVED, that the Controlled Substance Plan for the Laurens Fire District Emergency Squad is approved.

This was adopted unanimously, with no abstentions.

Completion of Paperwork for Participation In Intra-Nasal Narcan Demonstration Program

Mr. Mulleedy advised that Dr. Dailey had requested that some paperwork be completed by Dr. Fisher, as Regional Medical Director, so that the Region could participate in the EMT Intranasal Narcan Demonstration program. Dr. Fisher reviewed the documents and signed them. They will be forwarded to Albany Medical Center.

GAVAC Requests Discussion of Medication Shortage Situation

Mr. Mulleedy advised that GAVAC had requested discussion of the current critical shortage of certain medications used in prehospital practice. Mr. Swartz presented a letter from Dr. Shoen, the agency medical director, requesting advice from the REMAC physicians. There was discussion on the subject. It was decided that a link to the FDA pages on the subject would be placed on the regional web site. In addition, Motion was made by Dr. Duthaler and seconded by Dr. Leinhart, as follows:

RESOLVED, that in order to continue quality patient care during this time of medication shortages, an agency medical director may substitute medications of the same class as the shortage meds to be used, based on local availability, provided that the Department of Health be advised in the case of controlled substances. Before the substitutes are used, the agency medical director shall approve and shall conduct (or a designee shall conduct) appropriate training in the use of the substitute medications, and shall keep appropriate records.

This was adopted unanimously, with no abstentions. Mr. Farrell advised that a brief letter to himself in the case of controlled substance substitution would be appropriate.

Any Other New Business as May be Appropriate

It was noted that Life-Net of New York is planning to open two new bases in the North Country, one in Potsdam and one in the Watertown area. Mrs. Mulleedy advised that the PowerPoint training program for Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD) has been presented to a group of 21 CME students with very affirmative results. There was discussion on the subject, and Ms. McGown advised that 8 individuals in Otsego County were using VADs. There is also one user in Hamilton County. The physicians agreed that the program should be made available regionally. Mrs. Mulleedy also noted that a listing of the regional PowerPoint training programs was available for all attending. Mr. Mulleedy advised that these programs will soon be available online using “cloud” technology, and by entering a username and password.

Correspondence

Mr. Mulleedy advised that correspondence which raises issues of a QI nature has been received. It will be discussed in executive session.

Old Business

Update on Proposed Article 30 Legislative Changes

Mr. Mulleedy led a discussion on the subject. On March 12, word was received from Mr. Zeek that the State Assembly had made some changes to the proposed Article 30 revision. He also announced that the State Senate had removed consideration of the Article 30 changes from their one-house budget bill completely. On March 14, Mr. Zeek also reported that legislative leaders in both the Senate and the Assembly were apparently in favor of consideration of this legislation separately from budget considerations, due to the complexity of the issues involved. Mr. Mulleedy reported on a lengthy conversation earlier with Lee Burns on a number of the elements involved. He noted that she stated that there was no intent to rearrange current patterns of care coordination in the State.

Any Other Old Business, as may be appropriate

There was none.

Executive Session

REMAC entered into executive session for discussion of QI and personnel issues at 11:15 AM.

Business Following Executive Session

REMAC came back into open session at 11:32 AM. The only remaining business was to entertain a motion for adjournment.

ADJOURNMENT

Adjournment was at 11:32 AM on Motion of Dr. Duthaler.

The next scheduled REMAC meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn in Johnstown on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 10:30 AM, with an AAREMS meeting to follow at the same location on that date at 1:00 PM.

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AAREMS REMAC Minutes for March 15, 2012 Page 4