Tidewater Emergency medical Services Council, Inc.

Strategic EMS Plan:  2006 – 2010

(Revised, 2007)

Using an environmental analysis (looking at system strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) the committees and Board of Directors drafted the following strategies and initiatives. This draft plan was then distributed region-wide for review and input from EMS stakeholders who have an interest in the Council's future activities. The plan was approved by the Board of Directors on April 3, 2006 with a commitment for annual review and revision as necessary.  In 2007, the Board reviewed the plan based on a fresh environmental analysis (January 2007), input from the EMS Medical Operations Committee (February 2007), public comment (March 2007), and an Organizational Analysis undertaken by a consultant (January through March, 2007).

The below strategies and initiatives do not address the day-to-day working of the council and its staff. Instead, these strategies and initiatives help guide the council into areas which need improvement or require new council involvement over a multi-year period. Each year a separate annual work program will address the items in this plan. This plan represents the "big picture." Detail typically associated with plans (demographics, geography, etc) is minimized so that this document focuses on strategies of most value to the EMS system.

Council’s Vision

The EMS system in the Tidewater region . . .

• Will provide access for victims for injury and sudden illness via a universally available enhanced 9-1-1 emergency telephone system.
• Will provide for dispatcher-provided telephone assistance (pre-arrival instructions) to callers with life-threatening emergencies.
• Will provide for timely response of first responder and transportation personnel and vehicles through a system of predetermined minimum response intervals, monitoring and quality improvement.
• Will provide for high-quality, prehospital treatment of patients as a result of standardized basic life support training programs, accredited advanced life support educational and mentoring programs, standardized testing programs, frequent and timely continuing education programs, and quality improvement programs.
• Will provide triage and transport, and transfer if necessary, of patients to the most appropriate facility based on predetermined universally accepted transport guidelines.
• Will provide timely emergency department care with emergency physicians, emergency nurses and other support personnel and trauma care, when necessary, with personnel and resources associated with a designated trauma center.
• Will provide communications system capabilities that enable EMS personnel to communicate with all other EMS personnel throughout the region, their dispatchers, all hospital emergency departments and other public safety personnel.
• Will provide resources and capabilities in order to appropriately respond to and manage large disasters and mass casualty situations.
• Will ensure EMS system viability and excellence through the effective use of state, local and private funding sources, research, medical direction and collaboration of all persons and agencies involved in the provision of emergency medical services.

Council’s Mission

The mission of the Tidewater EMS Council is to reduce morbidity and mortality by facilitating regional cooperation, planning and implementation of an integrated emergency medical services delivery system.

Core Strategies and Key Initiatives

Core Strategy 1.                 Develop, Strengthen and Diversify Partnerships

1.1.   With Hospitals—

1.1.1.      Help EMS agencies develop and formalize a network of individuals in hospitals to improve communication and follow-up especially with relations between agencies and the ED, pharmacy, materials management and records management.

1.1.2.      Help develop the standards for supplies and pharmaceuticals that decrease variation and expense yet allow agencies to comply with safety guidelines.

1.2.   With Media—Help EMS agencies develop and formalize a network of individuals in media organizations who can assist with the dissemination of information and with the promotion of pre-hospital care.

1.3.   With public health agencies develop and promote more EMS involvement in injury and illness prevention strategies (education and training for high risk families and coworkers; immunizations; elder fall avoidance, play ground area evaluation and reporting, etc.)

1.4.   With non-emergent transportation providers allow for alternative (non-emergent) transportation of patients to reduce to burden on emergency response agencies.

1.5.   With Eastern Virginia Medical School – Consider the need for and means to implement an EMS fellowship program.

1.6.   Internally – Diversity the membership of the Board of Directors to strengthen community partnerships and bring professional specialists (accounting, legal, faith, business, fund raising, etc.) onto the board to strengthen its capacities.

Core Strategy 2.                 Develop and Strengthen Infrastructure

2.1.   Communications—Promote the standardization of data collection, transmission, and sharing information that complements efforts to improve clinical data collection and analysis (see Strategic Initiative 4.1.).

2.1.1.      Preplan for and educate providers on “best practice” use of technically complex radio systems.

2.1.2.      Consider the need for and means to implement centralized online medical control.

2.2.   Enhanced AED access—Promote public education and champion the accessibility of AED.

2.3.   Web-based management—Assist in the training and utilization of system management software.

2.4.   Disaster response—Help facilitate a cooperative, regionalized response to major disasters capitalizing on the leadership of the Hampton Road Metropolitan Medical Response System.

2.5.   System funding – Seek additional grant opportunities and potential partners for grant proposal development and submission.

Core Strategy 3.                 Strengthen Education and Training

3.1.   Promote the concept of a regionalized training plan that coordinates the efforts of TCC, other training centers (including establishment of additional accredited ALS training programs) and individual agencies.

3.2.   Champion the development of Web-based learning and re-certification programs.

3.3.   Consider the need for and means to implement a regional EMS training center, to replace individual agency EMS training centers, to increase training efficiency and reduce duplication of efforts.

3.4.   Fully implement the Kent J. Weber Emergency Response Training and Simulation Center as a valuable community resource.

Core Strategy 4.                 Strengthen Medical Direction, Research and Quality Improvement

4.1.   Regionalize data collection—Promote the development of standardized data collection and analysis and assist with the evaluation of products designed for pre-hospital health care.

Core Strategy 5.                 Strengthen Staffing and Human Resources

5.1.   Assist agencies in the development, identification and utilization of available management and leadership training opportunities.

5.2.   Improve EMS career and volunteer opportunities.

5.3.   Internally – Increase and improve communication among and between Council programs and staff. Improve the staff evaluation process and implement ongoing evaluation versus annual appraisal.

5.4.   Internally – Develop strategies and improve system-wide involvement in Council committee and activities.

Develop Action Plans

• Assign core strategies and key initiatives, and development of action plans, to specific committees and request committee reports on progress during each board meeting.
• Adjust committee and the board meeting agendas to better reflect assigned core strategies and key initiates.

Revised and Re-adopted, Board of Directors, April 19, 2007