1. LMA program for BLS is in the process of being written into state regulation.
2. BLS/ SCTU subgroups will be meeting sometime in February. Date, time and invitations to follow.
3. State diversion website should be online after the 1st of the year.
4. The bylaws committee is in the process of updating the MICU Advisory bylaws. One of the changes will allow non-medical director physicians involved with an MICU project to attend and be involved with MICU Advisory meetings.
5. Some dates to remember for 2005:
   May 1&2 EMS C conference
   May 1 State EMS awards (nominations due by 3/4/05)
   Sept. 16-18 OEMS/ NJ-ACEP EMS Conference
6. A meeting is scheduled with Governor Codey office regarding state EMS funding.

1. Adjunct Airway- LMA or Combitube or some other device pilot study information is on the Health Commissioner's desk awaiting approval.
2. EMS Fellowship- NJ's first EMS fellowship will begin at Morristown Memorial hospital. They are accepting applications. Congratulations to Mark Merlin on this endeavor.
3. MICU project definition and voting- A special sub-committee will be chaired by Sol Nevins to determine any changes in the by-laws regarding number of votes per project. In the past, this has been considered one MICU project gets one vote regardless of size. Projects that serve larger areas or populations have the same number of votes as a project that may only operate one unit. This committee will propose any changes and report back to MICU Advisory at the December meeting.
4. If anyone has any further changes or deletions to the State Standing Orders they should be submitted to Karen Halupke at OEMS no later than 12/1/04.
5. There will be RSI train the trainer refresher courses on 9/28, 9/30, and 10/5 from 10am-noon. Further information on locations should be directed to Chuck McSweeney at OEMS.
6. Specialty Care Transport and BLS subcommittees are in the process of forming. They will be subsections of the MICU Advisory Board. Physicians and the respective site directors will meet and discuss issues related to them specifically instead of discussing them at MICU advisory.

You can reach the State Office of Emergency Medical Services at 609-633-7777 or contact me at ldesrochers@sbhcs.com for further information on any of the above.

Thanks
Larry DesRochers, MD
Chair, EMS Committee

NJ-ACEP continues to have a significant presence in EMS in New Jersey. Dr. Jennifer Waxler currently serves as chair and Dr. Larry DesRochers serves as the vice-chair of the MICU advisory committee. There are also multiple ACEP members who attend this quarterly meeting. It is for this reason that most of our committee work takes place and is part of this meeting.

After much work, the new state EMS regulations are in the process of final publication. Some errors have been found and corrected in that process. Included in that was the error regarding a requirement for BLS for medical command.

It was also voted on at the last MICU Advisory meeting that the definition of Board Certification in the state regulations will be ABEM and AOBEM.

The state is also moving toward having an electronic charting system that would be available for all ALS units. This would facilitate large amounts of data collection for individual sites and the state for its quarterly and annual reports.

EMS week was in May. Please congratulate the EMS award winner for NJ-ACEP, Elliot Justin, and take time to view the State EMS award winners at the following web address:

http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems/awardrece2004.pdf

Also underway is the development and implementation of EMS Task Force regions within the state. Basically, these would be pools of equipment and personnel, able to respond quickly to a large scale EMS emergency within the state or our neighboring states. The idea would be that if there is an incident in the Southern part of the state, overwhelming it, the Northern or Central Task Forces would respond to assist. For more information see the below web address:

http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems/taskforce.htm

© 2003 NJACEP