Non-transport emergency medical service
I hope everyone’s summer is going well, for the most part despite not receiving much in the way of rainfall we have had what I would call a mild summer so far, at least in the central part of the state with only a few days above 95 degrees so far.
There are a few items we would like to touch on in this edition of the firewire.
As many have heard, and as KSFFA Treasurer and NVFC Chair Steve Hirsch has discussed, the pending OSHA regulations. Hopefully by now everyone in the Kansas Fire Service is aware of the purposed updates that have been recommended. There are varying opinions on whether the regulations would directly impact the Kansas Fire Service. I encourage you to keep yourselves informed and up to date on the recommendations, and please if you have time go to the National Volunteer Fire Council website www.nvfc.org, the International Association of Firefighters website, www.iaff.org or the International Association of Fire Chiefs website, www.iafc.org as each organization has information available as well as different views to take into consideration on the purposed recommendations.
Regional fire schools continue to go well and our relationship with other organizations in the state remains strong. By the time this article is published we will have successfully collaborated with the Kansas Fire Rescue Training Institute for the initial offering of their Mobile Water Supply Course and IFSAC certification. This class was offered as part of the KSFFA regional fire school hosted by the Ellis County Fire Department July 13th and 14th in Hays. We will also collaborate with KFRTI offer additional classes at regional fire schools later this year. This working relationship will be beneficial for the Kansas Fire Service and we are happy to offer additional educational opportunities to Kansas Firefighters.
From the legislative aspect of things, the legislature has had several committees meeting over the summer. In addition, the Legislative Coordinating Council recently approved additional committee meetings for various committees to convene and work on legislative initiatives in preparation for the upcoming legislative session.
Another important legislative item being discussed focuses on non-transport emergency medical services. Some may recall, several years ago, 2019 to be exact the Kansas Board of EMS hosted a meeting in Junction City. The meeting was to begin a conversation around language that will specifically impact non transport emergency medical services in Kansas. As the discussion and additional meetings began to develop momentum, the wonderful COVID situation happened, and the decision was to put everything on hold to allow pre-hospital providers the ability to focus on the pandemic.
Now that we are through the pandemic the Kansas Board of EMS, Kansas State Association of Fire Chiefs and the Kansas State Firefighters Association have started discussion on what language for statutes surrounding emergency medical service, specifically non transport emergency medical service will look like. The executive director of the Kansas Board of EMS solicited input and requested feedback from the KSAFC and KSFFA, as well as asked for the fire service agencies to appoint a small group of fire service representatives to a committee to be the voice of the fire service, primarily non transport fire departments who provide emergency medical services on a regular basis. The group has representation from volunteer departments as well as career and large metro area fire departments. Ultimately many of the circumstances of providing EMS are similar regardless of how large or small of a population your agency provides service for, but there are also many differences between those agencies as well. The group met with KSBEMS leadership for the first meeting in early July and were provided with a general framework of what the legislation will potentially look like. The goal of the group will be to vet concerns and help draft language that ensures protection for the individual EMS provider as well as the agency that is providing EMS. As this progresses, we will keep you informed and updated on what will be purposed, keep in mind the purpose of the legislation is to ensure that there is consistent EMS delivery amongst transport and non-transport agencies across the state of Kansas, that is what the Kansas Board of EMS is statutorily responsible for. While many fire departments are already committed and have implemented procedures and processes that will likely be in line with what is being purposed, there are many fire departments who have not taken those steps. Some of the important items that will be addressed in the statues include ensuring any agency providing EMS has a medical director and patient care protocols in place. This may be something as simple as MOU’s in place between the transport (ambulance service) and non-transport first responder department (fire department) that states the non-transport agencies fall under the auspice of the transport agency medical director, protocols, QA process, etc. Some counties already have a county wide medical system in place, where each department operates from the same set of protocols, guidelines, medical direction and credentialling process, while other counties have departments operating independently from each other. There will be fire departments that will likely not be impacted by the legislation as they do not routinely provide EMS and may only provide rescues service, or the occasional ambulance service request for lifting assistance. Additional meetings will be scheduled for the core group, and as this process progresses, we will do our best to keep everyone informed. I can assure you; the discussion and potential legislation is not intended to place any burden or hardship on any non-transport fire department. For fire departments that also operate the ambulance service for your jurisdiction, there will essentially be little if any impact on your departments as you are already required to be compliant with Board of EMS statutes and regulations. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the executive board.
As always, be safe, be nice and make every day a training day…..
Shane Pearson,
KSFFA President