Education Committee Report - August 2023

Details

Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 August 2023 13:45

Published: Sunday, 20 August 2023 12:40

On Friday August 18, the Education Committee discussed the following 4 agenda items:

1. Discussed the new interim guidelines which are available on the State website. They were distributed by Laurie Sheldon – 182 pages.  Not for BLS use yet although ALS was advised to carefully review their responsibilities on the guidelines.
   
   
2. Reviewed the resurgence of COVID over the summer, possibly due to people staying indoors with AC running due to high heat causing greater likelihood of spreading the virus. Reminded members to review protocols for PPE and to check expiration dates on your supplies. There is a new variant spreading which is EG.5 or Eris with similar symptoms – some patients are also developing conjunctivitis from this variant.  Use good judgement and take care.
   
   
3. Reminded everyone that the Fall EMT classes are filling quickly- be sure to remind squads.  Also please, please review how to complete the training fund form. A sample partially completed EMT Training Fund form was prepared for this year’s Convention classes – this will be available on the RSVP registration platform and will be placed on our website.  Make sure students are using their full name as listed on their EMT card.
   
   
4. Discussed the idea of hosting an "open zoom" meeting for anyone that has questions regarding education standards or any other concerns we could help them with. All attendees thought this was a good idea but suggested should be held on a weeknight after the summer when we would have better attendance than during the summer; and also suggested that we can remind members of ‘upcoming events’, like reminding how to renew your EMT card when one the renewal date is coming near.

These were new items brought up at the August committee meeting:

1. Our Minimum Educational Standards were discussed – we had discussed updating these at a previous meeting, and would then have them posted on our website once they were finalized, and possibly including them in a directory printing. If we are doing cosmetic type changes, such as making that wording is uniform throughout the standards, these should not require a Council vote by all squads to approve the changes.  We will schedule a committee review of the Educational Standards as soon as we can, and then these standards will be posted.
   
   
2. We discussed whether our members should renew both their NREMT and NJ EMT certifications as they near expiration, or just keep one of the cards. OEMS has been asked several times about this and they have not provided any guidance to date.  So as of now it is personal preference, unless the squad requires a NJ certification.  Officially the OEMS waiver to utilize Naloxone only applies to NJ EMTs which would mean that NREMTs cannot use Narcan to reverse an opiate overdose.  Additionally, as long as the member has a NJ EMT ID number they should still be eligible to use the EMT TF for CORE recert classes even if the NJ EMT is lapsed.
   
   
3. We discussed providing a list of acronyms and mnemonic reminders that students are taught in EMT classes that can be distributed as reminders to current squad members. It was discussed that different course sites may use different acronyms and members can be mixed from multiple training sites.  We will see if a list of these reminders can be produced.
   
   
4. One of the Instructors at the meeting advised the members present that when he went to add two students to the electronic course listing on the NJEMS website, it was after the 30 day period to complete the course records so he had to call OEMS to perform this task for him as the database locks by 30 days after the course. He was advised by OEMS that he had to go to Trenton to the OEMS offices and bring everything needed for a course audit (student records, tests, skill sheets, scenarios, outlines, etc.).  He asked if there was any directive about this from OEMS.  OEMS has never published anything about having to go to Trenton for this, but they have announced at the EMT Training Fund Council meeting this year that too many instructors were not completing the course listings within 30 days so if someone complained about the course records being locked the instructor would have to go to the OEMS offices in Trenton for remediation.  This had been announced previously at BOT meetings, but the information apparently did not get disseminated.
   
   
5. NJ DOT has created a TIM (Traffic Incident Management) course which OEMS will award 4 CEUs for successful completion. This course trains first responders on proper response to highway incidents, which resources should be requested/notified and placement of these resources.  This course is available in person or online.  The online course is still in a test mode.

Respectfully Submitted,
Edna Deacon, Gerry McEntee, Laurie Sheldon

There are two methods that may be used to meet NREMT continued cognitive competency requirements:

• Recertification by examination
  
  
• Documentation of continuing education
  • For EMTs, NREMT requires 40 hours of continuing education, including
    • 20 hours of National Component education
    • 10 hours of Local Component education
    • 10 hours of Individual Component education