Florida Aero Medical Association

Meeting Minutes

July 9, 2003

Orlando

 

·                     Meeting called to order by Johnny Delgado at 1303.

·                     Previous minutes Motion to approve by Joe Ferrara, seconded by John Roche

·                     Treasury Report by Nancy Hunter:

Balance 7/10/02:                 $1678.00

Deposits                                                $ 1650.00

Withdrawls                                $   425.63

Balance 7/10/02:                                $2902.37

 

·                     Membership:

There is 6 months left on the 2003 membership. If you are not current, payment will only be good until Dec. 31, 2003.

 

·                     AAMS Update/President’s Report: 

 

Most of the attendees at MTLI (Medical Transport Leadership Institute),in April , were from FL.

 

Air Medical Transport Congress: (1st week in September, 2003)

Coordinated by Frank Thomas, Salt Lake City

Discuss the future and direction of the industry

Website based survey will go out in 2-3 months.

 

The first election following the new board structure will be taking place. There is an At-Large and Public seat.

 

AAMS is involved in the Part 135 re-write committee. There are two more meetings, one in August and one in November. All are encouraged to contact Johnny Delgado or Gerry Pagano with ideas, suggestions, or concerns.

 

FEMA Assets:                In order to be identified as a FEMA asset for federal relief, 4 categories must be created for rotor and fixed wing services. These include number of patients, search and rescue, night operations, and specialty care. These will be typed next month.

 

There is a new Office of Air and Maritime Intradiction, which used to be part of Customs.

 

AMTC: Reno 2003, Cincinnati 2004, Austin 2005, Phoenix 2006, Tampa/Miami 2007

 

·                     DOT Course:

 

NHTSA and DOT have approved the curriculum and AAMS as acquired the money for mass production but there is a distribution problem and 2 of the chapters need a re-write.

·                     FL Medicaid Reimbursement:

 

There is too short of a window. This issue has been put on hold due to the State budget issues. Will re-address next year.

 

 

 

·                     State Update given by John Scott:

Since the last meeting, the Trauma/Brain/Spinal Cord department (Susan McDevitt) has been moved out of the EMS office but still remains under the Department of Health.

 

The main focus in legislation has been the medical malpractice award caps still being discussed in special legislative sessions.

 

From Johnny Delgado:

Work continues on the Air Worthiness Certificate Issue. 4 other items went through on the Public Health Bill. FL Fire Chiefs in support and are getting other support.

 

·                     EMS Advisory Council reported by John Scott:

There are 2 new committees, which have been developed to address inspection issues and data submission (Greg Rubin, Chair).

 

The Council encourages all that are interested to participate in any one of the committees. Participation is not limited to the persons assigned to the committee.

The Medical Care Committee is working on a 64E re-write, statewide triage tags, and a collection of information to evaluate over and under triage.

 

·                     Group Reports:

 

FL Chapter: ASTNA – see website for minutes

Neo/Pedi Transport Assoc – see website for minutes

FFCA – A new EMS section is being formed under the Florida Fire Chief’s Association in an effort to expand membership. Please visit their website at http://www.ffca.org.

 

·                     Miscellaneous:

 

EMS Communication Plan changes per Randy Pierce: By Dec 2004 there will be a new narrow-band frequency used for hospitals and ground EMS. Currently only one manufacturer can carry this frequency. By 2005, NAT will have resolved the problem.

It is mandatory that all rotor-wing A/C have the Air Secondary frequency 155.340 in order to expand coverage.

 

Website upgrade per David Summers: In order to proceed with the option of online payments through PayPal, the current website will need to be upgraded to a commercial site. The increase would be from $360.00 annually to $600.00 annually or from $120.00 to $200.00 per association per year. A motion was made by Maria Fernandez and seconded by Mark Clemens to increase the payment to $200.00/yr for a commercial upgrade.

 

Per Dr. Laurie Romig, please visit the following website and complete the survey:

http://www.airmedleadership.com , prior to the Air Medical Transport congress in Sept.

 

·                     Elections:

 

Johnny Delgado will extend his term, as President, for another 2 years.

Jeff See, from Bayflite, has accepted the position of President-elect.

 

·                     Meeting Adjournment: 1500

Motion made by John Roche and seconded by Sharon Chandler.

 

The next membership meeting will held in Tampa in October. Details to follow.