EMS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
May 27, 2008
CALL TO ORDER:
1:30 PM by Dr. Nelson
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Joe Nelson, DO-EMS Program Medical Director & Chairperson
Nerina J. Stepanovsky, Ph.D., EMS Program Director
Dave Holler, Pinellas Pk. Fire Dept.
Laurie Romig, MD, Pinellas County Med. Dir.
William Ward, St. Petersburg Fire Rescue
Dayton Salstman, Pasadena Fire Dept.
Craig Hare, Pinellas County Fire Adm.
Christopher S. Henderson, St. Pete. Fire Rescue/SPC Adj./Student Rep.
GUESTS PRESENT:
Susan Burnett, SPC/ASA
Ted Rogers, EMS Faculty
Larry Lovan, EMS Faculty
Glenn Davis, EMS Faculty
Anthony Tedesco, EMS Adj.
Jerome Ruffing, EMS Adj.
Dave Anderson, EMS Clin. Coord.
William Ballo, SPC/EMS Lab Coord.
Dave Sullivan, EMS/CME, EMS Adj.
Denise Kerwin, SPC Allied Hlth. Prog. Director
WELCOME:
Dr. Nelson welcomed everyone and asked all to introduce themselves.
Everyone was requested to review the Minutes of the Advisory Committee Meeting from December 4,
2007. A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the Minutes of December 4, 2007.
Dr. Stepanovsky requested the addition to the Agenda for the meeting, that being a report by Denise
Kerwin, Program Director for the Allied Health Open Campus Program at St. Petersburg College. This
was approved. Denise stated that she directs the continuing education health programs at SPC including
the nursing and allied health professions. She and Nerina have been working on a emergency room skills
set for EMT’s and Paramedics so they would have the skills in place for working in an emergency room
setting and be ready for hire. This program/curriculum would also be available to other health care
providers. Also, Allied Health has just received a scanner via grant funds that would allow them to be
paperless with record keeping. She is hoping other departments will eventually utilize this scanner. She
is also in the process of reworking the online website www.onlinece.net. The online continuing
education was started in 1997 at SPC. The online website is now going to allow students to register for
non-credit courses.
The Allied Health Program at HEC is willing and ready to help all health programs at the college with
non credit continuing education courses. Denise distributed brochures and business cards.
Allied Health also offers an RN refresher and RN Remediation course for those nurses who are looking
to get back into the profession and those RN candidates who have not passed their state board test in
three attempts. LPN Remediation and Refresher are also offered. She thanked Nerina and this committee
for their time.
Nerina is looking forward to the partnership between the EMS Program and Allied Health. This new
non-credit/40 hour class will be especially helpful for those with EMS training who do not choose to go
into the firefighting field. She hopes to have the course available by Fall of this year. This course
developed out of a need and request from healthcare facilities for new employees with more hospital
emergency room skills.
OLD BUSINESS:
a. Proposed Curriculum approved by DBOT-5/08, review of changes
Nerina reminded everyone of the proposed changes to the Paramedic, EMT and Degree
Program for EMS that was discussed at the December meeting. She directed our attention to
the overhead showing the new Fall curriculum for the Paramedic Program. Nerina stated that
in keeping with the new Education Standards that are coming out in the Fall she has proposed
the following changes:
The Paramedic class begins August 25, 2008 and is now a four session rather than five session program.
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Classes will be during the day, in a blended format: most of the theory class will be in the classroom, with specified
class meeting dates on site here at the Health Education Center. If enrollment allows, each theory class will
be offered on two different days per week, to accommodate shift schedules.
Labs are six to eight hours/week, broken down into 2-three to four hour labs per week. Each lab is offered twice
weekly.
The first session will include (unless already completed) Human Anatomy and Physiology (BSC 1084C), EMS
Pharmacology (EMS 1522C), and Medical Terminology (HSC 1531) as well as Introduction to Paramedic Practice.
Students may still take BSC 2085/2085L and 2086/2086L to satisfy the A&P requirement. If this choice is selected,
BSC 2085/2085L must be completed with a "C" or better before applying to the paramedic program. BSC
2086/2086L will then be a co-requisite for the first session.
Hospital clinicals and field shifts are self-scheduled, and begin the second session.
Individual schedules will be accomplished during orientation.
You will receive a letter in the mail regarding acceptance and mandatory orientation date.
Proposed day schedule, depending on enrollment:
First Session – begins August and January (11 credits)
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BSC 1084C – Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology (4 credits)
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EMS 1522 C – General Pharmacology for EMS Providers (2 credits)
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EMS 2600C – Introduction to Paramedic Practice (Modules 1 [Preparatory, Sections 1-5, 9-10] and 3
[Patient Assessment, Section 1, 3 & 5]) – 3 credits (3 hours/week), to include EMS Comm. Center clinical
(covers EMS Systems/Roles and Responsibilities, The Well-being of the Paramedic, Illness and Injury
Prevention, Medical/Legal Issues, Therapeutic Communications, Life Span Development, History Taking,
Introduction to Patient Assessment, Communications)
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HSC 1531 – Medical Terminology (2 credits)
Second Session – begins January and May (12 credit hours - 6 cr. hrs-theory, 3 cr. hrslab, 3 cr. hrs-clinical)
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EMS 2601, 2601L and 2664, to include parts of Modules 1 (sect. 6, 7 & 8) and 3 (sect. 2 & 4), Module 2,
Module 4, Module 5 (sect. 12), Module 6 (sect. 3), Module 7 (covers General Principles of Pathophysiology,
Pharmacology, Venous Access and Medication Administration, Airway, Techniques of Physical Examination,
Clinical Decision Making, Trauma, Behavioral and Psychiatric Disorders, Geriatrics, Assessment Based
Management) (includes ITLS certification)
Third Session – begins May and August (14 credits - theory = 8 cr. hrs, lab = 4 cr. hrs, clinical = 2 cr. hrs.
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EMS 2602, 2602L, and 2665, to include Module 5, except for sect. 12 and Module 6, except for sect. 3
(covers Medical, Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Special Considerations) (includes ACLS, PEPP certifications)
Fourth Session – begins August and January (5 credits)
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EMS 2659 – Paramedic Field Internship, includes Module 8-Operations - 5 credits
The BSC 1084C class, which is geared toward EMS providers, has been very well received. It
has been taught twice and the EMS students really like it, as it is more applicable to the EMS
profession rather than the regular A & P course. Also, the EMS 1522C – General Pharmacology
course has been changed from 1 credit hour to 2 credit hours. The increase in the credit hours for
this course came about because students were having a difficult time calculating drug doses and
too much time was spent teaching students the math process. This took away from the other
important information taught in the course. The faculty also found the need for better recognition
and understanding of medical terminology. As a result, HSC 1531-Medical Terminology and
EMS 1522C-General Pharmacology for EMS Providers are classes that are now part of the
program as opposed to being pre-requisites.
Those students who will be moving on the Medical School, PA or Nursing School and want the
option of taking the 2 session A & P course can certainly do that. It is not required, but they will
have to have BSC 2085/2085L completed before starting the program and BSC 2086/2086L will
have to be taken with the first session of the Paramedic Program.
EMT had small changes, namely an increase by one credit hour for the EMT Theory and the
Field Internship decreased by one credit hour. The total EMT credit hours are still at 11.
Ted Rogers, EMT Lead Instructor shared that the main objective is to have the requirements met
based on competency not the number of hours. The requirement for 12 Patient Care Reports
remains in place. Reducing the required credit hours for EMT Field Internship is a better
utilization of preceptors as we have two programs using preceptors at the same time.
We don’t want to shortchange our EMT students because not all EMT students go on to
paramedic, medical school or nursing and are taking EMT training as a stepping stone to further
medical education.
For the EMS AS degree the general education requirements remain the same; however
Developmental Psych has been removed and Medical Terminology has been added. It was
thought that the increased credit hour in pharmacology and the inclusion of medical terminology
would be more beneficial and with the new EMS 2600C - Introduction to Paramedic Practice as
the developmental psych portion can be expanded within the Paramedic curriculum. The
Pediatric Education for Pre-hospital Providers (PEPP) course also expands on this. Geriatrics
will be covered in the Life Span Development in the first session of paramedic program and is
also included in the ITLS and ACLS portion. Students must at least pass a test showing computer
competency. They do not have to take a specific computer course. It is still a 73 credit hour
degree program and take effect this Fall.
So, if an EMT begins Paramedic Training starting this Fall they will need four (4) semesters to
receive their Paramedic Certificate. There are seven (7) general education classes needed in
addition to the EMT and Paramedic hours for the AS degree. Depending on how the student has
taken the general education courses they may need up to 2 to 3 semesters more for the degree.
All this information is on our EMS website at www.spcollege.edu/hec/ems and is available
through our academic advisors here at HEC.
b. Update on recommendations from last meeting (12/4/07)
1. Streamline preceptor process and removal of redundancy on the preceptor
application: Dave Anderson, Clinical Coordinator presented the revised Preceptor
Application. See the attached application for changes:
St. Petersburg College
EMS FIELD INTERNSHIP PRECEPTOR PROGRAM
VOLUNTEER APPLICATION
I would like to volunteer my services (without compensation) to St. Petersburg College as a field preceptor in the EMS Program. Please
consider my application.
Qualifications: Minimum of two years in the Pinellas County EMS system at the level you wish to precept, instructor certification
preferred (required within one year), your agency’s recommendation, OMD clearance, SPC’s medical director approval and SPC’s EMS
program director approval.
NAME: ________________________________AGENCY (primary):_______________________________
STATION # AND SHIFT:
SECONDARY AGENCY (if applicable):______________________________________________________
ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________________________
CITY: ________________________________________________ZIP:______________________________
PHONE: (home)
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
For whi
Years of experience under current certification.
(business)
Check all certifications that apply:
ACLS instructor
National Registry
ITLS/PHTLS instructor/provider
CPR/BLS instructor
Level ______
Other: ___________________________________________________________________________
Please summarize all teaching experience:
Date of application: ______________________
Before completing this section, please view the Required Preceptor PowerPoint
on ANGEL.
Go to: https://angel.spcollege.edu – Emergency Medical Services Community Group –
Lessons – Required Preceptor Training.
Required Preceptor Training Quiz
1.
Explain briefly why you desire to become an EMS preceptor for St. Petersburg College EMS students.
2.
Describe briefly your background and qualifications that would qualify you as an EMS
preceptor.
3.
Describe briefly your teaching style and modalities used in the field setting to assist students in accomplishing their goals.
4.
How would you give constructive feedback to the student?
5.
How would you handle an interpersonal conflict with a student?
6.
If a student performs unsatisfactorily in a clinical or field setting, how would you proceed?
7.
Your student is being less than considerate to a patient on scene, how do you handle the situation?
8.
You have discussed an ongoing problem with a student. However, the student is not responding to your correction, remedial
training, educational explanation, or alternative teaching modalities. What is your next step?
9.
When do you have to complete the student evaluation? If the evaluation is not favorable, what options do you have for the
delivery of the evaluation to the instructor?
10.
Your student performs above and beyond your expectations. What follow up can you do to recognize the student?
If selected as a field preceptor for the Preceptor Program, I will be providing field preceptor services only during the time I am an
employee of _________________________________________________________.
My services as a volunteer field preceptor are performed pursuant and subject to SPC’s Agreement with
__________________________________________and SPC’s Agreement with Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services authority
and the Field Internship created there under.
St. Petersburg College is dedicated to the concept of equal opportunity. By signing this form I am agreeing that I will not discriminate on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status or national origin, or against any qualified, handicapped individual in my treatment
of students, and further acknowledge that sexual harassment constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.
I authorize St. Petersburg College to undertake full reference/background checks as needed. The above information is true and correct.
______________/__________________________/______________________________/_______________
Date
Print name
Signature
PC/EMS ID#
Once processing is complete, your name will be added to the ANGEL Web site under “Preceptor List”. Please check this list for
updates and notify us of any pertinent changes (shift change, station change, etc…).
Agency Recommendation
Primary
employer
As
this
agency’s
EMS
coordinator
(or
higher),
I
fully
recommend
___________________________________ to become a preceptor for St. Petersburg College EMS students. I attest to this
individual’s knowledge, skills, and abilities and believe he/she has the characteristics of a great preceptor.
_______________________/________________________________/_______________
Print name
Signature
Date
Secondary employer (if applicable) - As this agency’s EMS coordinator (or higher), I fully recommend
________________________________ to become a preceptor for St. Petersburg College EMS students. I attest to this
individual’s knowledge, skills, and abilities and believe he/she has the characteristics of a great preceptor.
_______________________/________________________________/_______________
Print name
Signature
Date
OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Service inquiry profile
PC/EMS medical director’s recommendation
SPC’s recommendation
Approvals:
________________________________________________/____________________________________________
PC/EMS medical director
SPC/EMS medical director
_______________________________________________/_____________________________________________
SPC/EMS program director
SPC/EMS clinical coordinator
The application is all inclusive and online. Dr. Nelson thanked Dave for his hard work in completing
this new application which will streamline the entire process.
2. Research preceptor rewards: Dave has made the adjustment to the tuition credit bank for
decreased preceptor hours required to earn credits. The Lunch and Learn event is in the planning stage
and would include lunch, presentation of award certificate and the AHA Instructor Core Course. We
hope to have this at the end of the year. This is offered because we are requesting that our preceptors
have an instructor course that includes adult teaching methodologies.
3. Preceptor activity reports, includes a new clinical agency-Bardmoor ER: Dave reported that he
has 110 preceptors as of today. Breaking down how many hours each preceptor has accrued is too time
consuming and the preceptor list changes almost daily. The preceptor list is available on ANGEL and
the instructions for accessing this site were emailed to all agencies along with how to access the
application. Nerina stated the need to have an email address for the preceptors so students can contact
them. The preceptors aren’t always easy to reach by phone.
Nerina also showed the committee all the links under the EMS Community Group on ANGEL. She
stated that Bardmoor ER has been added to our clinical hospital sites for EMT students only at this time.
4. Four session Paramedic program and changes to AS-EMS degree: This was previously
discussed and was approved by our DBT and will begin in August.
5. Open Lab Coord position: Nerina introduced Bill Ballo as our new Lab Coordinator. Bill is a
graduate of SPC EMS Program and has worked at Sunstar for 10 years. He is also a graduate of the
University of Florida. Bill will be assisting with site visits along with Dave Anderson.
6. New Megacode Kelly mannequins: We have recently received our third Megacode Kelly;
however the quote didn’t include the control box so we are in the process of ordering that. Good news is
that Susan Burnett was able to secure funds from Perkins Dollars to allow us to acquire a fourth
Megacode Kelly.
She will work on increasing funds allowed to include the control box which is vital to the operation of
the Kelly. She also was able to get us a new Phillips AED trainer so we now have three Physio and two
Phillips AED trainers. We are also getting a new Heart Sim 200. Dr. Romig will try to acquire a Cardiac
Science AED trainer for us.
c. Pass rates for EMT & Paramedic
Nerina shared that in 2007 the 1st attempt pass rate for paramedic was 100%. The EMT pass rate
from the National Registry website show that from 12/1/2007 through 5/27/2008 1st attempt pass
rate is 75 % with 78% passing within 3 attempts. She distributed handouts of Topic Area
Performance rates, national and Cognitive Exam Performance Report by Topic for the SPC
Program. See attachments for all including the Florida Community College Performance
Projections. The question was asked as to the state of Florida average for Paramedic pass rates.
Nerina stated she believed it was 80% and Dr. Nelson said he thought is was 78%. Nerina also
explained that in Florida EMT’s have only 3 allowable attempts at the exam and a 1 year period
of time to take it after completing their training. Unfortunately some students never even take the
test after training. This factor can skew the state average results.
NEW BUSINESS
a. Personnel Updates – Dr. Wise (former HEC Provost) has accepted a position in Salt Lake City, Utah
as of a week ago. She is the Dean of Health Programs at Governors Western University. Dr. Phil
Nicotera is now the acting Provost at the Health Education Center with Dr. Dolores Teter serving as the
Associate Provost. Both of them are not in this week but look forward to working with all of the health
programs at the college. The only other change is the addition of not only Bill Ballo as Lab Coord., but
Phil Borum as full time faculty.
b. Program Expansion - We have been approached by MacDill Air Force Base with the request to do an
onsite Paramedic Class. We are just in the talking process at this time with a lot of things to be
considered before anything could be worked out. This would be mainly for firefighters on the base and
any EMT’s looking to get medic certified. All are military employees. Also, Pinellas Park High School
wants to become a Public Safety Magnet School. They are interested in our program bring the First
Responder Course to them, and EMT training will be duel enrollment courses. SPC has articulation
agreements with Manatee, Boca Ciega and Palm Harbor University High Schools where First Responder
can be done in the fall for students 16 or older. For EMT, as long as the student is 18 years of age they
can take EMT Lecture & Lab from January through May and when they graduate high school they can
take their clinicals and Field Internship in the summer.
c.2007-2008 Comprehensive Academic Program Review – EMS – Please see separate attachment.
d. ITLS video featuring SPC faculty – Our SPC EMS Program was asked by Denny Hare of American
Safety Videos to help them make the new ITLS training video. Nerina then presented a portion of the
video.
e. *add to Agenda – Dr. Nelson reminded us that the State Bureau of EMS Program Renewal visit will
be done sometime in October.
f. Date of next Advisory Committee meeting – This is the joint meeting with other SPC program
advisory committees that is held at the SPC EPI Center in October. This committee has chosen to attend
the Friday, October 17 luncheon meeting with Dr. Kuttler and our individual advisory meeting will
follow. It will conclude at approximately 3:30 PM. Susan Burnett also asked that the committee
complete the SPC Advisory Committee Survey that was distributed.
ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
Chris Henderson brought up preceptor to student ratio and the need for additional preceptors and that St.
Petersburg Fire Rescue may have a reduction of available preceptors. This is something we need to
prepare for before a real shortage becomes an issue.
Dr. Romig deferred to Craig Hare for the explanation of why there may be a possible shortage of
preceptors at SPFR. Craig stated that there was a request from SPFR and Manatee Technical Institute for
an agreement for their students to do ride time. Those agreements have always been between the schools
and provider agencies. From the Medical Director perspective it was established programs wanting their
students to ride in Pinellas County would have to have CoAEMSP accreditation and must meet all of the
same work processes that SPC does with the entire system. From the County’s perspective, the county
shouldn’t be interfering with what SPFR wanted to do. From the student and labor perspective SPFR
would probably have more openings that they can get paramedics through school.
Dr Romig predicted that from previous requests over the last several years from other programs wanting
to use Pinellas agencies for internships/preceptors that there will be an unknown number of other
programs wanting this arrangement. Dr. Romig stated she is in a quandary in deciding how many is too
many. A process that was started in trying to put together a single contract for the county was basically
halted by county legal because it was too cumbersome. What was settled on was a minimum
requirement of CoAEMSP accreditation. It is unsure how many programs that have made the request for
a ride time contract have met that requirement. Nerina stated this information can be found on the state
website and that at the moment MTI is CoAEMSP accredited. It was agreed that this situation of
repeated requests from other training programs for agency ride time agreements will continue.
Craig noted that Palm Harbor Fire Rescue is working with Kaiser College to create a
program/agreement. He advised them to start early and work with OMD and to make sure that they are
CoAEMSP accredited.
Dr. Nelson stated that this challenge is facing EMS programs all over the state of Florida from the
perspective of creating new preceptor slots and maintaining the ones they have. He hopes the provider
agencies recognize the value that the SPC EMS program provides and keeps that in mind. Also, the
agencies, in this case SPFR, would require that any agency that is offering preceptors would be required
to coordinate their activities with other schools. This goes for SPC as well. The primary reason is to
avoid two students showing up at the same time for the same preceptor/ride time. This is incumbent on
both the provider agency and the school. Some method should be set up to avoid this problem.
Nerina shared that for the hospital clinicals, nursing programs share a master clinical rotation schedule
where any nursing program that wants to come into Pinellas County must attend the master rotation
meeting and the clinical spots are sort of negotiated. These meetings are held every session. She
suggests that this might be an option for any program seeking an agreement with an agency.
Capt. Bill Ward of SPFR shared his agencies reasons for wanting an articulation agreement with
Manatee Technical Institute, which included the need to fill retiring medic positions and the bonus of
MTI allowing their students to have 100% ride time with SPFR.
Nerina expressed concern about medical direction and the fact that MTI does not teach any Pinellas
County EMS protocols in their program. She asked Dr. Romig if she had any concerns about this. Dr.
Romig stated she hadn’t given it any thought thus far because this is such a new situation. The
immediate responsibility will fall to the preceptors. Bill interjected that because these students work for
SPFR they are already aware of the MOM’s Manual. He also stated that several of SPFR employees
work for Manatee Technical Institute. He suggested the possibility of incorporating this information into
the curriculum.
Chris interjected the concerns of SPC students who may not be able to access the preceptors they would
like because of the need to share with MTI students. He wants to get the word out to our students to sign
up for the preceptors they want as soon as possible due to the possibility of competing students from
MTI and possibly other schools.
Dr. Nelson asked for the proposed MTI student arrival date that would impact our students. Bill replied
it would likely be February or March of 2009. Dr. Nelson strongly suggested a dialog be started to
coordinate the preceptor scheduling for both SPC and MTI students. He stated that if this is not
coordinated it would negatively affect students from both programs.
Nerina stated that this arrangement would very definitely affect our program and students because as a
community college we are not allowed to go outside the county in which we are located. This puts SPC
at a real disadvantage. She also stated that vocational/technical schools are to follow the same rules as
community colleges and are apparently not doing so. The other thing she hopes MTI understands and is
honest about with their students is the fact there is no articulation agreement between MTI and SPC,
therefore there is no transfer of credits from MTI to SPC. This would disallow the ability to receive an
EMS-AS degree from SPC.
Bill Ward stated that while he sincerely would like his employees to receive their paramedic training
from SPC, he has an immediate need to fill paramedic positions within his agency. He also questioned
whether there was an articulation agreement between Manatee Community College and MTI and if the
credits would transfer between those two institutions. Nerina said that is being investigated. She has
tried a variety of methods to attract students to the Paramedic Program at SPC including shift classes,
evening and weekend classes. She is very concerned that the largest agency in this county is sending
their students elsewhere. She explained that students desiring a degree from Manatee Community
College will still have to take a placement test because that is a college rule.
Craig reiterated the need to accomplish a master agreement that would cover any training program
wishing to enter into an agreement with a Pinellas County agency. Nerina expressed her appreciation
that they are affirming the requirement that the training program/s be CoAEMSP accredited.
Continuing the round Table discussion, Dr. Nelson commended instructor Tony Tedesco and other
faculty for instituting Case Study Presentations by Medic II students. This requires students to form
teams to present a specific case given to them. They must research the case issues and present their
findings. Bill Ward commented he attended a presentation and found it very impressive.
He also expressed another preceptor concern, that being two students on the same ALS unit. He
completely understands and appreciates the preceptor explanation for why two students were assigned to
the same unit, but still had some concerns about the possible negative results. This unit was a double
ALS unit; that is 2 medics assigned to one unit.
Dr. Nelson’s first impression is that it is best to have only one student on one rig. In this instance it took
care of itself and there is no formal policy prohibiting this as it is an agency call. However, it is safer for
all concerned to have only one student per unit. Much discussion ensued regarding this issue and it was
generally agreed that this is a rare occasion and that perhaps the rule to have only one student per unit on
a call can become part of the SPC Field Internship program policy.
Nerina thanked Craig for supporting our program via equipment that is going out of the system for
donation to the program. It is very much appreciated.
Susan Burnett thanked our committee on behalf of Dr. Kuttler for the work this committee does. She
stated that what just occurred regarding the working out of preceptor issues demonstrates why it is so
necessary for Nerina and all health programs to have an advisory committee and to be able to get input
about what is really happening in the community. This is truly appreciated.
Dave Sullivan of EMS/CME reminded any agencies present that have not picked up their ITLS
(International Trauma Life Support) cards to please come to their office to sign off and pick them up.
Dr. Nelson thanked everyone for attending and called for a motion to adjourn. Motion was made,
seconded and approved to adjourn at 3:38 PM.
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made and approved at 3:38 PM.