Proposed 2014 Protocols for Riverside County CA

Everyone,

Just a few points for clarification:

1) Everyone in the Riverside County EMS System is invited to participate in our Annual Policy Review Process and I'd like a lot more participation from the field. It's not too late to join the PRF (currently using Google Groups) where you will be able to see exactly what changed in our draft 2014 Policy Manual; there is a thread for each policy/issue.

2) As was announced at PMAC on Monday Dr. Ochoa is leaving us and Dr. Van Stralen is coming on as the REMSA Medical Director. "Political coup" is a poor description, inaccurate, for a change that involved all of the approval processes required to go from having the medical director as a contract position to an employee, follow the process through the Human Resources Department, follow the interview process and evaluations, and finish the process. This is local government in Riverside County.

3) More change is coming with additions to the EMS Agency's staff, the EMS System Evaluation, moving to a single data collection system, a stroke system, etc. I know you're busy with life, need to make a living, and that few field staff are supported financially when they show up at meetings. The agency is trying to make participation more accessible and I would really like to see more field level participation; the PRF is a good place to start.

[FONT=&quot]Scott Moffatt, NREMT-P, RN[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]EMS Specialist[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Riverside County EMS Agency (REMSA)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Department of Public Health (DOPH)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](951) 358-5029

[/FONT]
 
Thanks Mr. Moffatt for the information. Often times information is scarce with field personnel and there often exists no way to find such things out as there are no resources to reference. Even the recent PMAC minutes mentions nothing, on my first look-through, about the change over outside making the medical director a county position instead of a contracted one. Is this done on purpose, or is it simply a lack of follow-through on the involved parties side?

It would be nice to have a memo released detailing the change over, the reasons behind it, and what REMSA hopes to accomplish moving ahead. It would have been prudent to have had this memo prepared prior to the announcement during PMAC, and subsequently made available on REMSA's website immediately following the meeting. This would have provided the information needed to squash silly rumors like political coups.

Of course us chatty-cathy field providers will always have their opinions, and those opinions will likely be biased toward perceived injustices committed by Ochoa, but information will always help to change perspective, so it would be nice if it was more available.

Now on to your invite to the PRF. I've tried to become involved before and was essentially ignored. Furthermore, there are no links or information that is readily accessible on the county website detailing the steps needed to participate, or how to even sign up. Calling The office is often a gamble as well as a person may, or may not, get someone that knows what it is, or is willing to help put someone in contact with a person that does know.

The biggest problem is that much information is passed through the formal and information professional networking within those stakeholder groups that must participate is these meetings. A great example of this is the schedule for the PMAC and EMCC. Just try and find it on the website. It's not posted. If someone is lucky he or she might find it buried in some other category, or within some past meeting's minutes.

I'm not complaining here, but rather, I'm just sharing my experiences.
 
Addrobo said:
Here's Van Stralen's biography.....former Paramedic.

http://high-reliability.org/files/Daved_van_Stralen_bio.pdf
Click to expand...

I dislike drawing parallels between different people, but I cannot help but think that Riverside County EMS has managed to get itself its very own Dr. Bledsoe. I only mention Bledsoe because it is well known, but Dr Van Stralen is most certainly accomplished in his own right, and the fact that this kind of physician is assuming MD position in this county makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I am very optimistic.
 
Jambi said:
I dislike drawing parallels between different people, but I cannot help but think that Riverside County EMS has managed to get itself its very own Dr. Bledsoe. I only mention Bledsoe because it is well known, but Dr Van Stralen is most certainly accomplished in his own right, and the fact that this kind of physician is assuming MD position in this county makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I am very optimistic.
Click to expand...

From someone who works in San Bernardino county and interns in Riverside county, I'd like to see some change for the good as well. Small personal example: It's frustrating to have to call base for a repeat dose of Zofran while the patient is puking all over the back of the ambulance.
 
Addrobo said:
From someone who works in San Bernardino county and interns in Riverside county, I'd like to see some change for the good as well. Small personal example: It's frustrating to have to call base for a repeat dose of Zofran while the patient is puking all over the back of the ambulance.
Click to expand...

Or even Phenergan would be nice at that point too, but I hear ya my friend.

I'm afraid that any change, regardless of the "progressiveness" of any MD, will be long and hard fought because we're going to be be fighting against a long line of poor field providers and inadequate oversight and accountability. Things are changing for the better, but this county has been burned by the proverbial "low information EMS provider" (my apologizes to Kelly Grayson).
 
Can we have a link for the PRF?
 
exodus said:
Can we have a link for the PRF?
Click to expand...

Please go to the draft 2014 Policy Manual: www . remsa . us / policy / 2014 /

(I haven't posted enough here to post links . . . )

You will notice the section at the top of the left menu "Policy Review Forum" with the applicable links. You can request to join the group on Google Groups, send me an email, or just call the REMSA office and ask to speak with me.

Please let me know if you have any issues.

Scott Moffatt, NREMT-P, RN
EMS Specialist
Riverside County EMS Agency (REMSA)
Department of Public Health (DOPH)
(951) 358-5029

 
Jambi said:
A great example of this is the schedule for the PMAC and EMCC. Just try and find it on the website. It's not posted.
Click to expand...

When you are at www . rivcoems . org you will find the PMAC and EMCC agendas under Documents >>> Meeting Minutes >>> and then your choice of PMAC or EMCC. Also, if you click on Calendar you will find links to the various committees under the heading MEETINGS DURING 2013.

We are trying to improve accessibility so I'll give you all a little insight into how we are managing online documents:

You will find all of our memos at www . remsa . us / documents / memos /

As you know, the current Policy Manual is available at www . remsa . us / policy / . Additionally, you can add the year as another directory level and access the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014 Policy Manuals.

You will find PMAC docs at remsa . us / documents / committees / pmac / and EMCC docs at remsa . us / documents / committees / emcc /

But all of this could change and it is best that you first try to find what you're looking for at rivcoems . org, then perhaps try one of these alternative methods, and then just email or call.

Sorry about breaking up the URLs but I don't yet have permission to post links on this forum.

Scott Moffatt, NREMT-P, RN
EMS Specialist
Riverside County EMS Agency (REMSA)
Department of Public Health (DOPH)
(951) 358-5029
 
I seemed to have somehow missed these posts... I've applied to the PRF for 2014 & 2015, as well as the news group.

For those who couldn't find it, here's the links:

 
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