Ambuglances ::: Region I's Official Newsletter

NEW EMS RULES TO GO TO PUBLIC HEARING

Time is almost up for written comments on the proposed DHR ambulance Rules and Regulations 290-5-30. Written comments may be sent to Marion W. Cornett Jr at 2 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 29.210 in Atlanta, GA 30303-3142 by November 30. A public hearing will be held for verbal comments on November 30 at 10 a.m. at the DHR Board Room at 2 Peachtree Street 29th floor in Atlanta. The DHR Board will consider adoption of the rules at the regular meeting at 2 Peachtree Street, 29th floor in room 29-258 in Atlanta. The proposed rules may be found at http://health.state.ga.us/programs/ems/index.asp

EMS COUNCIL TO ELECT NEW OFFICERS

The Region 1 EMS Council will elect a new slate of officers at the regular meeting on January 20, 2005 including Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Executive Committee. Nominations are being taken and will also be considered from the floor at the Council meeting.

LAWANNA MERCER-COBB HONORED BY GOV. PERDUE

Lawanna Mercer-Cobb, EMS Coordinator for Region 6 (Augusta) has been honored by Governor Sonny Perdue at a ceremony at Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth on November 12. Lawanna was instrumental in establishing two of the large EMS conferences in Georgia - TIME in Albany and CHANGES in Augusta. She began her career as a nurse and was one of the first EMT instructors in Georgia. She served as the training coordinator in Region 8 (Albany) before becoming the Coordinator for Region 6 (Augusta). Congratulations, Lawanna.

THE SEARCH FOR THE INNOCENT CONTINUES

David Loftin will continue to check service training records for expired EMT, CT, Paramedic, CPR and ACLS cards. Check your cards today. DHR Ambulance Rules and Regulations do not allow personnel with expired cards to work on ambulances or licensed first responder vehicles. If you have not received your certification card from the Office of EMS, contact Jim Cutcher or David Loftin at Region 1 EMS.

DATES ANNOUNCED FOR MAJOR GEORGIA EVENTS

The dates for the major conferences and events for Georgia has been announced.

EMS Day at the Capitol on February 24, 2005 at 5 p.m. at Georgia Railroad Freight Depot

CHANGES EMS Conference on March 29-31, 2005 in Augusta, GA

EMS Management Conference on April 20-22, 2005 at Unicoi State Park

EMS Awards Banquet on May 12, 2005 in Macon, GA

Georgia EMS Conference on August 2-5, 2005 at St. Simons, GA

Georgia EMS Educator Conference in fall of 2005.

LARGE DISASTER DRILL TO BE HELD IN ROME

December 9, 2004 will be the date of a large disaster drill for Floyd County emergency services. The drill will be held at Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome. More information may be obtained from Joe Adams at wjadams@gdph.state.ga.us

CHANGES MADE TO VIDEOTAPE TRAINING SERIES FROM REGION 1

Region 1 has changed from the PULSE EMS tape series to 24/7 EMS tape series. If you are interested in subscribing to this series for one tape a month, contact David Loftin at cdloftin@gdph.state.ga.us or call 706-295-6154.

NO DECREASE IN EMS FUNDING BY FEDS

Congress passed a budget bill including the block grant funding to the states for EMS programs. There was no decrease in the funding which supports the state and regional EMS offices. The EMS-C program also was not cut. However, there were decreases in the rural AED and NHTSA EMS division funding. $250,000 was also retained to fund the national NEMESIS program. The NEMESIS program coordinates data collection and evaluation at the national and state levels. Georgia's program is GEMESIS.

CHANGE IN HOMELAND SECURITY HEAD

Governor Sonny Purdue has replaced Bill Hitchens with Mike Sherberger as head of Georgia Homeland Security. Bill Hitchens has been promoted to head of the Public Safety and Commander of the Georgia State Patrol.

GEMESIS COMMITTEE EXPANDED

The Georgia Data Collection and Evaluation Committee (GEMESIS) has bee expanded. Matthew Crumpton (Whitfield EMS) and Harry McConnell (Gilmer County EMS) have been added as representatives to this committee for Region 1. The committee reappointed David Loftin, Linda Avery and Stephen Phillips (Floyd Medical Center EMS) to the committee.

USP PROPOSES GUIDELINES FOR EMS

The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has drafted a set of guidelines for EMS on the storage of drugs on ambulances. This follows the concerns about temperature variations outside the recommended storage tempera;tures on ambulances. Questions or comments may be relayed to Dr. Okeke at mediarelations@usp.org

2005 EMS COUNCIL SCHEDULE

The Region 1 EMS Council will continue to meet on the third thursday of the first month of each quarter at 2:00 p.m. The 2005 meeting dates are January 20, April 21, July21 and October 20. All meetings will be at the Region 1 Offices in Rome unless otherwise specified.

GILMER COUNTY HAS NEW MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Gilmer County Emergency Medical Services would like to welcome Ann Berry Stanley Todd M.D. to the staff of GCEMS, Dr. Todd will be accepting the position of Medical Director. Dr. Todd is a graduate of UT College of Medicine in Memphis, TN. She holds instructor certificates in A.C.L.S. and P.A.L.S. Dr Todd is also senior staff Physician at Georgia Mountains Health in Ellijay and is Chief of Staff elect at North Georgia Medical Center.

Do you have a news story you would like published in Ambuglances? If so, let David Loftin know about it. He can be reached via telephone at (706) 295-6154 or via email at cdloftin@gdph.state.ga.us. Let's inform the region about your news!