EMS NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS 
 

• June 30, 2008:
      Fuel Meeting Minutes
   

• June 20, 2008:
      Draft Meeting Minutes from the June 5, 2008 Regional Council Meeting
   

• May 30, 2008:
      Draft Meeting Minutes from the May 28, 2008 Regional MAC Meeting
   

• May 12, 2008: 
     Draft Meeting Minutes from the Special Meeting of May 7,2008
   

• May 5, 2008:
    Meeting Minutes from the April 3, 2008 Regional Council Meeting
   

• April 4, 2008:
      The Audit Report for the Council for the contract year 2006-2007 has been completed.  Copies will be provided upon request.  To request a copy, please call the Council office
   

• March 3, 2008:
         Meeting Minutes from the February 27, 2008 MAC Meeting (approved May 28, 2008)
   

• November 21, 2007:
     Meeting Minutes from the November 13, 2007 Regional MAC Meeting
   

• October 4, 2007:
     Meeting Minutes from the October 4, 2007 Regional Council Meeting
     

• August 23, 2007:
      Meeting minutes from the August 2, 2007 Regional Council meeting
      Meeting minutes from the August 6, 2007 Regional MAC meeting
   

• August 23, 2007
    Meeting minutes from the June 7, 2007 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• July 26, 2007:
      Pictures from Seven Mountains evening with the Spikes
   

• June 15, 2007:
      Meeting minutes from the April 5, 2007 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• April 20,2007:
      S. Scott Rhoat, EMS Program Specialist for Seven Mountains EMS Council for the past fourteen years has resigned from Council employment.  The delegates, board and staff wish him the best as   he starts down this new path in his EMS career. 

• October 25, 2006:
      Meeting minutes from the October 5, 2006 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• August 24, 2006:
     Meeting minutes from the August 3, 2006 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• August 18, 2006:
      Seven Mountains EMS Council is pleased to announce that Regional Medical Director Dr. Kasandra Botti, DO has been named the 2006 Pennsylvania Emergency Physician of the Year by the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council (PEHSC) at their annual conference banquet on August 9, 2006 in State College.  As pictured presenting the award are Deputy Secretary of Health Michelle Davis, Dr. Botti, and Bureau of EMS Director Joe Schmider. 
   

• July 3, 2006:
          An EMS Strike Team from the Seven Mountains EMS Council region was deployed on June 28-29, 2006 to the Wilkes-Barre area of Luzerne County Pennsylvania to assist local EMS providers.  Most of eastern Pennsylvania was experiencing widespread flooding and even though protected by a dike the city of Wilkes-Barre had issued a mandatory evacuation as the expected crest of water on the river was projected to possibly overwhelm the dike system.  Our regional team of 5 ambulances, along with a 5 unit team from the LTS region, assisted at shelters with patient evaluations and treatment, with movement of residents from shelters back to their skilled nursing facility and transfer of acute care patients back to a previously evacuated hospital.  The EMS organizations from our region that deployed units with four (4) crewmembers each were: Central Juniata EMS, Mifflintown, Juniata County; Lock Haven EMS, Lock Haven, Clinton County; Snow Shoe Ambulance, Snow Shoe, Centre County; Bellefonte EMS, Bellefonte, Centre County; and Centre LifeLink EMS, State College, Centre County.  In addition, Council deployed one support unit and staff member to function as the strike team leader, liaison, and assist in the county EOC.  This is the second deployment for the Seven Mountains EMS Council EMS Strike Team within the past 9 months.  The initial mission was a 9-day deployment to assist in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath in New Orleans, Louisiana in September 2005.  
   

• June 21, 2006:
          Meeting minutes (approved at August 3, 2006 meeting) from the June 1, 2006 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• May 17, 2006:
          Meeting minutes (approved at June 1, 2006 meeting) from the April 6, 2006 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• April 20, 2006:
          Seven Mountains EMS Council in cooperation with Centre County Ambulance Association are sponsoring and hosting a 1st Annual EMS Encampment Weekend during EMS Week on May 19, 20, 21, 2006 at Fort Bellefonte Campground near Bellefonte.  All regional EMS providers, career and volunteer, are invited and encouraged to attend to relax and enjoy the weekend.  An announcement & invitation has been sent to each regional EMS organization recently providing further details.  Even if you are not one who camps, please consider attending any or all of the daily events, especially the free picnic Saturday afternoon with guest speaker Joe Schmider, Director of PaDOH Bureau of EMS.  To assist us in planning for the picnic, please contact our Council office either by phone, email or returning the attached RSVP as soon as possible. 
   

• April 10, 2006:
          Philipsburg Area Hospital, Centre County, announced today they will be permanently closing their facility on Wednesday evening April 12, 2006 at midnight.  As of the time of announcement they are no longer accepting admissions to the hospital but the emergency department should remain staffed until Wednesday's closing.  EMS agencies are advised to consider transporting patients to other surrounding emergency departments.
   

• January 20, 2006:
          "EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ELEVATED TO BUREAU STATUS AT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH" Press Release.
   

• January 20, 2006:
          Meeting minutes  (approved at April 6, 2006 meeting) from the January 5, 2006 Regional Council meeting are now available for review.
   

• January 15, 2006:
          Effective this date, the new PaDOH approved Regional ALS Treatment Protocols are to be used.  This concludes a 16 month process to update existing regional protocols that had been previously utilized.  Council wishes to thank the Regional Medical Advisory Committee members, Dr. K. Botti, Regional Medical Director, Dr. D. Kupas, State EMS Medical Director, and the PaDOH EMS Office for their efforts to bring this lengthy project to fruition.
   

• December 21, 2005:
          Council is pleased to announce that effective this date, all PaDOH-related EMS & Rescue certification training programs will now be conducted in conjunction with Bucks County Community College.  Regional rescue programs have been conducted through BCCC for many years, this just expands that partnership.  After reviewing existing arrangements Council believes that this change will prove to be beneficial to all parties involved including students, instructors and regional EMS organizations.  Overall this change will appear seamless to EMS providers and practitioners with the exception that course tuitions will be dramatically reduced in many instances.  As an example, the student cost for the basic EMT courses starting in January 2006 will be reduced from $190 down to $115.  This reduction is possible since Bucks County Community College does not charge a tuition fee as did our previous community college arrangement.  Reduced training costs will benefit the EMS system with recruitment of new members now that agencies and personnel will be better able to afford basic certification-related education.  
   

• November 15, 2005:
          The Pennsylvania Department of Health EMS Office unveiled the new EMS Recruitment campaign today in an effort to increase the number of young adults interested in EMS as either a volunteer or as a career choice.  The new "Roll With It" campaign includes movie trailers shown in theaters statewide today.
   

• October 10, 2005:
         Meeting minutes (approved at 1/5/06 meeting) from the October 6, 2005 Regional Council meeting are now available.
   

• September 12, 2005:
          Two of our regional EMS Surge Capacity services have just returned from New Orleans, Louisiana.  Moshannon Valley EMS, Philipsburg & Centre LifeLink EMS, State College each sent four staff members and an ALS ambulance, along with 17 other ALS ambulances from Pennsylvania to assist with recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.  Council assisted by sending two staff members that assisted as support staff and command operations.  Bellefonte EMS loaned the use of their wheelchair van to Council as a support unit carrying supplies such as food and water along with personal effects.  These units left Pa. on Saturday evening September 3 and returned late Sunday September 11.  These units were based at the Louis Armstrong Airport and transported evacuated patients to hospitals in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette areas.  
   

• August 25, 2005:
          Meeting minutes from the August 4, 2005 Regional Council meeting are now available.  Minutes were approved at the October 10, 2005 meeting.
   

• October 14, 2004:
          At the October meeting, Seven Mountains EMS Council recognized Dr. Theodore Ziff, who has stepped down, for fourteen years of dedicated service to the Council and the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) organizations within the region.   In January 1989, Dr. Ziff accepted the volunteer position of Regional Medical Director, providing physician oversight and direction to the EMS program within Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Juniata, and Mifflin Counties (Clearfield was moved to a neighboring region in 1991).  He has been instrumental in expanding the provision of advanced life support (ALS) and the initiation of the automatic external defibrillator (AED) program, for both local EMS services and public access, throughout the region.  Along with the duties of Regional Medical Director, he provided medical oversight for all EMS training programs conducted by the Region and served as AED Medical Director for a majority of the Centre County EMS organizations enabling them to offer this life-saving service.   Dr. Ziff is the Medical Director for Mount Nittany Medical Center’s Emergency Department and helped institute their advanced life support service (Medic 24) service.  
  

• July 29, 2004:
          As a reminder to all EMS organizations and PaDOH certified practitioners, please keep track of expiration dates of your First Responder or EMT certifications.  There is no 'grace period' permitting one to still function while awaiting recertification.  If you have not received your re-certification documents by the date of expiration, your certification may have lapsed.  Do not assume that they are in the mail, please contact your Regional EMS Council to verify certification status.  EMS organizations are also reminded that they are responsible to verify that their staff, paid or volunteer, possess valid certifications to meet identified staffing requirements.  Permitting non-certified personnel to staff your QRS or ambulance will jeopardize the service's PaDOH Ambulance License or QRS Recognition and also increase liability risks for the individual practitioner, management and the organization.
  

• July 28, 2004:
          Council met with the eight Regional ambulance services that have agreed to participate in the PaDOH EMS Surge Capacity program by committing a total of nine ambulances.  Participating organizations include Lock Haven EMS and Bucktail Medical Center MSTU from Clinton County; Central Juniata EMS and Port Royal EMS from Juniata County; along with Moshannon Valley EMS, Snow Shoe Ambulance, Alpha Ambulance and Bellefonte EMS from Centre County.  Representatives were presented with their checks at the meeting.  All services received $5000 except Alpha Ambulance which received $10,000 since they were committing two ambulances instead of just one.  This money will be used by the organizations to help offset the cost of necessary training and equipment purchases.   
    

• May 18, 2004:
          The FAST and Bucktail Medical Center Ambulance Services in Renovo have been chosen by the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health to participate in the state’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Community Planning Project.  Seven Mountains EMS Council is assisting in the coordination of this project.  EMS agencies need to function as a member of their community.  When people call for medical help, they expect a rapid response, competent staff, and good equipment.  Often the Hollywood version of what we see becomes what we expect.  The purpose of this project is to provide EMS with a clear understanding of their customers; the needs of those customers and how to cost effectively meet those needs.  FAST and Bucktail Medical Center Ambulance Services will be conducting a variety of surveys that will include input from the media, school systems, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, medical facilities, and most importantly the public.
     

• November 6, 2003:
              Effective this date, Centre Community Hospital in State College has officially changed their name to the Mount Nittany Medical Center.  Their address, Receiving & Medical Command Facility ID numbers, and ALS service affiliate numbers remain unchanged.
    

• October 20, 2003:
              The Centre County Ambulance Association's Honor Guard took delivery of their basic uniforms at their meeting this evening.  The rest of the meeting was spent training on proper funeral protocol.  If the need should arise, the Honor Guard is now operational.  The primary intent of the Honor Guard is to honor deceased EMS personnel that may have died in the line of duty in Centre County.  In addition, they also intend to honor non-line of duty deaths of active or retired members of EMS, fire or police agencies in Central Pennsylvania.  This group is open to any Centre County EMS provider.  For further information or notify of a death, contact S. Rhoat at the Council office.
     

• October 3, 2003:
              Since we have redesigned our website, several providers have called asking where they can now find a listing of scheduled continuing education classes.  Council no longer lists regional con-ed sessions on our site but this information, and more, can be found by accessing the PaDOH Con-Ed System website.  A link to this is also located on our main page.
  
  

• August 13, 2003:
              The PaDOH EMS Office released Information Bulletin #2 outlining the process for Epinephrine Auto-Injector Administration by EMT's.  This is a modification in that BLS ambulance and QRS may carry Epinephrine Auto-Injectors instead of relying on a patient having an auto-injector available.  Interested organizations should read the bulletin and then contact their Regional Council office.