April 2001
Wishing you a Blessed Easter
COMMANDER'S MESSAGE
All during the year we receive information about a member being left off of the roster of a squad or department. You might ask "how can that happen"? We as elected or appointed officials have a major responsibility to our members, either paid or volunteer. The benefits that the State and the Association have provided for our members are among the best in the nation. If you do not know what benefits are provided for, then you need to contact one of the Area Directors or the Association Office to have someone visit your squad or department to explain them. Also, you need to develop a procedure of reporting new members to the State Association. You need to review your squad or department roster every meeting. This can be accomplished by contacting the State Association office. You can now check your roster online. Call the Association office and request your squad's access code. Did you check your roster at your last meeting? Don't wait until it is too late.
VICE-COMMANDER'S MESSAGE
If you read the Commander and Vice-Commander's messages you usually see the last line reads something to the effect of "Join the Brotherhood". Some of you have joined, but there is a lot that have not. Think about it. If a member of your squad passed away today and the family checking account was frozen. They had little or no money to survive on and your squad captain passed around a hat at the next meeting. Would you contribute? Yes you would and probably more than just $1.00. If the same scenario happened to a squad member in a neighboring county and the hat was passed, would you give? I believe you would. So what is the difference? People in rescue are used to giving time, money, advice, help, etc. The Brotherhood payment averages each year to around $40.00. That is .11 cents a day. Folks, you lose more that that through holes in your pockets. That's less than the normal cost of one, just one, 20 ounce soft drink at the corner store per week. I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
Again,
JOIN the BROTHERHOOD...
EMS Calendar
BLS JUDGES EVALUATION June 9, 2001, 10:00 a.m., West Jefferson, N.C.
DIRECTORS MEETING April 7-8, 2001 - Nags Head, N.C. , June 9-10, 2001 - West Jefferson, N.C.
RESCUE COLLEGE 2001
April 28 & 29, 2001 - Gaston Community College, Gastonia, N.C.
May 5 & 6, 2001 - Gaston Community College, Gastonia, N.C. Details at a later date.
HEAVY RESCUE JUDGES EVALUATION August 11th and 12th. Hickory, North Carolina.
BROTHERHOOD OBITUARY
| NUM | NAME | SQUAD | DOD | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #690 | Jack D. Stallings, Sr. | Gaston Life Saving Crew | 01/30/2001 | 66 |
| #691 | Benjamin Lester Holley | Smithfield EMS | 02/15/2001 | 78 |
| #692 | A. V. Haynes | Shelby Rescue Squad | 03/08/2001 | 78 |
Overview of the proposed EMS law changes in House Bills 452 and 453
North Carolina EMS law is found primarily in two portions of the statutes. G.S. 131E, Article 7, entitled Regulation of Ambulance Service, generally covers regulatory issues such as certification of personnel, ambulance licensing, vehicle permits, etc. Parts of this legislation have been around since as early as 1967 as part of health department law. Article 7A, the Statewide Trauma System Act of 1993, was added to address regulatory needs of the statewide trauma system.
G.S. 143, Article 56, entitled the Emergency Medical Services Act of 1973, was passed to establish and better define standards for a comprehensive, statewide, EMS system. It addresses the role and responsibilities of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Emergency Medical Services, and State EMS Advisory Council.
We have come to a point in the growth and development of our EMS system that it is time to revisit this enabling legislation and restructure parts of it to allow us to better serve our patients as we move into the future. To this end, we have compiled suggestions and requests from individuals and EMS stakeholders from across the state.