NVFC EMS/Rescue Section Holds Semi-Annual Meeting

September 19, 2012

On September 6, the National Volunteer Fire Council’s EMS/Rescue Section met in conjunction with the NVFC annual fall Board meeting, held this year in Fairbanks, AK. The Section reviewed a report on meetings attended and other activities undertaken since the last Section meeting in April and also received an update on legislation, including the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Improvements Act, the Medicare Ambulance Access Preservation Act, and the Veteran EMT Support Act.
 
Attending the Section meeting was Jules Scadden, an At-Large Director of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), and representative of NAEMT on the NVFC Board of Directors under the terms of a memorandum of understanding between NVFC and NAEMT. Scadden is Senior Staff Paramedic and the CQI/IT/Data Coordinator for Sac County Ambulance service in Sac City, IA. She has spent the past 20 years working in urban and rural communities as both a volunteer and career EMS practitioner and an EMS educator.
 
“I want to thank the NVFC for the opportunity for NAEMT to be an active partner in representing volunteer EMS providers,” said Scadden. “I was impressed with the numerous projects NVFC is involved in on behalf of volunteer firefighters and EMS providers, and NAEMT looks forward to our continued collaboration in the future.”
 
One of the items on the agenda for the meeting was discussion of the upcoming election of Section officers, which will take place early next year. The Section Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and three At-large Director positions will be up for election. Each position has a two-year term. Any member of the Section is eligible to seek office. Members wishing to be placed in nomination for office must submit their names by the end of this year to an Elections Committee that will be appointed by November 1 by current Section Chair, Ken Knipper.
 
Another topic of discussion at the meeting was the emerging practice in many communities across the country of community paramedicine – using paramedics to deliver medical services in non-hospital settings that have historically only been administered in hospitals. Community paramedicine was an issue discussed extensively at the August meeting of the National EMS Advisory Council, and the National Fire Protection Association recently requested input from stakeholders on a proposal to create a community paramedicine guidance document (that project is on hold at this time). Section Chair Knipper will be representing the Section at a National Consensus Conference on Community Paramedicine in Atlanta, GA, on October 1-2.
 
The Section’s next scheduled meeting will be held in May in Alexandria, VA, in conjunction with the NVFC’s spring board meeting. Stay tuned to the NVFC web site for details.