Greater Houston EMS Council

April 14, 2004

10:00 am

San Jacinto College Central

Meeting Minutes

Type of meeting:

Regular Monthly Meeting

Facilitator:

Raphael Galvan, President

Sec./ Treasurer:

Joseph Hamilton

Attendees:

NAME	REPRESENTING
Raphael Galvan	Phoenix EMS
Thelma Lemley	Consumers
Perry Dobbs	Emergency Responder Services
Robert Arreola	AMR
David Lehmann	Nassau Bay EMS
Thomas Hobbs	Maxxim Care EMS
John Englehardt	Emerald Medical Services
Pam West	Texas Department of Health
Jeff Sundseth	Pearland EMS
Orlando Jose Sorto	City of Houston Health Department
Kevin Mifflin	Gold Star EMS
Dana Holdt	Liberty County EMS
Kacey Sammons	Highlands VFD/SJCN-EMT
Charles Bryan	Bay Star Ambulance
Kelley Bryan	Bay Star Ambulance
Steve Winnett	Pride EMS
Anna Aina	Pride EMS
Joe Ogbebor	Southeast EMS
Eunice Ogbebor	Southeast EMS
Kier Scrivener	Northstar EMS
Joseph Hamilton	San Jacinto College Central EMT

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Introduction of Members

Galvan

10:00

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Temporary Suspension of Agenda to Discuss Council Philosophy

Lemley

10:00

Thelma asked for a temporary suspension of the agenda to discuss information she had received regarding the selection of Board Members in the election meeting held following the regular session of the Council 3/10/04. Dissention had been raised outside the council meeting regarding non-paid membership being considered for Board membership. Discussion ensued regarding the privileges of paid members and the lack of annual dues submitted by the membership. Since a large number of the membership present at that time had not paid dues it was decided to vote with the known membership present. If dissention was present, Lemley asked it be brought to the floor at that time. No dissention was expressed by members present therefore the issue was closed by the Chairman. Agenda was resumed. A motion was made to postpone the deadline for dues payment to May 2004 to facilitate the business of the Council.

Motion by: Mifflin

Second by: Arreola

Vote: Passed

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Approval of Minutes – Previous Meeting

Galvan

10:10

Minutes of the previous meeting of March 10, 2004 were not available due to a computer error. Motion was made to review the minutes of the 3/10/04 meeting at the next meeting.

Motion by: Lemley

Second by: Hamilton

Vote: Passed

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

OLD BUSINESS:

Treasurer’s Report

Hamilton

10:10

The current balance of the general fund is $1,956.42. No discussion.

Motion by: Lemley

Second by: Dobbs

Vote: Approved

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Proposed City of Houston Ambulance Ordinance

Lemley

10:15

Generalities of the proposed ordinance were presented to the Council by Galvan and Lemley. New members present were given details on the purpose of the ordinance and its history. This item was mainly a status report.

Motion by: No Action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

GHEMSC Web site

Dobbs

10:20

Perry presented details of the website being developed for the Council. GHEMSC.ORG. Web site is up and running at the time. Will run on a server at Dobbs residence or business. Perry needed company or personal e-mail addresses to post to the site. Send to emerresp@emergencyresponder.com .

Motion by: No action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Re-Introduction of Members Due to late arrivals.

Galvan

10:25

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

GETAC Medical Transportation Provider Task Force Report

Galvan

10:30

Meeting was held at South Padre Island last month. Mainly the Task force took questions and comments from provider services attending the meeting. The Task Force purpose was re-iterated as a group seeking solutions to problems in medical transportation in Texas.

Kier added that the Task Force was looking at all options and looking at provider licensing applications to be more useful. Raphael added that the membership should seriously consider sending representation to the GETAC quarterly assembly to give input and find out what is currently happening in EMS in Texas first hand.

Motion by: No Action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

EMS Week Report

Scrivener

10:45

An extensive and detailed presentation was made by Kier over the preparations being made for the EMS Week activities. (please see attached flyers and information sheets on EMS Week activities)

Tuesday – Golf Tournament at Hermann Park Golf Course

Friday - Continuing Education presentation starting at 09:00

Sunday – Council Awards Picnic

Tickets were made available at the meeting and distributed to members for sales. Emphasis this year will be on getting individuals and families of employees and management of area EMS and ambulance companies to attend together.

Awards selection was presented by Kier and Thelma. Decision on the awards to be given was taken by a show of hands. The same grouping of awards as last year will be presented. Thelma reiterated the need for nominations to be in early

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

TDH Report

West

11:15

Scott Reichel has left the TDH office employment and the new field rep is Roman Velles

34 new units were inspected this month

Current Regional Provider Status:

189 Providers in the Registry

877 Ground Units

5 Helicopter Services

10 Fixed Wing Services

A number of new first responder organizations has been registered.

The Beaumont area shows 18 providers presently

GHEMSC has had a representative at the TDH monthly “new provider” sessions lately. Dobbs attended in April.

Administrative Information:

Provider packets now go directly to Austin office.

$500 per service renewal still goes to region office

$100 per unit

Penalties have gone up from $1000 to $7,500/per violation

Motion by: No Action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

City of Houston Report

Sorto

11:30

63 inspections conducted last month

No new companies were reported to the COH office

Department has a new division manager, Manuel Perez

The best way to contact the office is to make an appointment due to the heavy work schedule presently in the inspections office.

Leave any packages with the office secretary – this is an acceptable way to deliver items to the office.

Call the office if any questions should arise in the field; messages will be returned as soon as possible.

Reminder: Companies that have expired are “Out of Business” – no exceptions

Motion by: No Action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Membership Report

Dobbs

11:40

New membership applications are being produced and will be out soon.

Motion by: No Action

Second by:

Vote:

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

NEW BUSINESS

Web Site Fees

Dobbs

11:50

Perry presented the costs of development and posting of the new web site to the Council

Server fee (annual) = $179.00

Requested reimbursement from the Council for the fees

Motion was made to reimburse Perry Dobbs $179.00 for computer server annual fees for the GHEMSC web site.

Motion by: Lemley

Second by: Mifflin

Vote: Passed

Agenda Item

Facilitator

Time

Adjournment

Galvan

11:55

Motion by: Lemley

Second by: Mifflin

Vote: Passed

Approved:

_______________________________ _____________________________

Chairman, GHEMSC Secretary, GHEMSC

___________________ _________________

Date Date