September 2004 EMS Wire Service

NIOSH, Rand Promote Major-Incident Safety

Emergency responders need better planning, training, coordination and management procedures at the scenes of terrorist attacks and disasters, according to a report jointly issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Rand Corp.

The report, titled Protecting Emergency Responders, Vol. 3: Safety Management in Disaster and Terrorism Response, urges an increased emphasis on personnel safety at major-incident scenes. It recommends enhanced planning to ensure that everyone who responds to an event can be protected within the Incident Command System.

Additionally, the report suggests developing local cadres of trained disaster safety managers who can lead coordination between agencies; incorporating safety and health issues more realistically into training; lining up needed expertise in advance of an actual response; and developing common standards for training, credentialing, protective equipment and hazard assessment.

Download the report at www.rand. org/publications/MG/MG170/.

—International Assoc. of Fire Chiefs

Medicare Changes Increase Reimbursements

The prescription-drug benefit signed into law last December brought with it some changes to the Medicare fee schedule that will benefit many ambulance organizations.

Under changes that went into effect July 1, payments to certain ambulance services have temporarily increased in four major areas:

1) Base rate and mileage payments are up by 1% for services originating in urban areas and 2% for those originating in rural areas. This lasts through December 31, 2006.

2) The same payments have increased by 25% for miles 51 and above of long-distance transports. This affects both urban and rural services, and runs through the end of 2008.

3) For services originating in “super-rural” areas—those in the lowest 25% of U.S. population density—the increase is 22.6% of the base rate.

4) A new regional fee schedule being phased in through 2009 will lead to higher reimbursements in certain areas (primarily the West Coast and New England).

These changes should be automatically calculated by carriers. For more, see www.cms.hhs.gov/mmu/.

—Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

FEMA Unveils Online NIMS Intro Course

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has introduced a new online course to help first responders understand the concepts and principles behind the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and begin incorporating it into their planning and policies.

The course, which takes about three hours to complete, was designed by FEMA’s Emergency Management Insti-tute. FEMA is also the lead agency in-volved in the NIMS Integration Center (NIC), which was established to provide strategic direction and oversight of NIMS. The NIC will develop and facilitate standards for NIMS education and training.

Access the course at https://training. fema.gov/emiweb/is/is700.asp.

—Dept. of Homeland Security

FEMA, NIOSH Kick Off Ambulance Crash Study

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has joined forces with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to study crashes involving ambulances and other emergency medical vehicles.

USFA is participating in NIOSH’s Evaluation of Emergency Services Vehicle Occupant Safety Project, which involves the review of data on ambulance crashes, hazard identification and task analysis, determining crash-testing methodologies, development of occupant restraint systems, and modeling of crash scenarios. The analysis is expected to be completed by this autumn, and will be followed by a three-year study of how “human factors” affect ambulance patients.

For more, see www.usfa.fema.gov/inside-usfa/research/safety/vehicle.shtm.

—U.S. Fire Administration

Memo Leads to Review of How Threats Are Handled

Paramedics in Toronto accidentally received a confidential police memo about a June bomb threat, sparking a provincial investigation into how Ontario emergency services respond to terror alerts.

The memo was issued following an anonymous tip that a Russian traveler would carry a chemical bomb into the country between June 10–15. No bomb was ever found.

The province’s top emergency-management official, Dr. James Young, has since been given the responsibility of making sure there are effective procedures in place to track threats, assess their validity and decide whether an alert should be given.

“When there’s a credible problem, then of course we have an obligation to inform the people,” Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said. “Any time there’s a threat, any time there’s something that puts the populace in danger, we have to find out if it’s a valid threat or just a prank.”

—Canadian Press

Commissioner Ponders Measures to Stem Abuse of Booze Among Firefighters in New York City

Hitting the bottle on duty may cost you your job under a proposal being weighed by New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.

Embarrassed by a series of alcohol-related incidents involving city firefighters, Scoppetta is pondering measures to stem the abuse of booze among FDNY personnel. Such steps could also include termination for those with multiple drunk-driving arrests. In the first six months of 2004, at least 26 city firefighters were arrested for DWI.

“Right now, the regulations are ambiguous, and some of the rules cannot be enforced. We need to take a comprehensive look at what to do with this issue,” Scoppetta told the New York Daily News.

The current penalty for drinking on duty is a maximum 90 days of lost pay (30 days for drunk driving). Earlier this year, Scoppetta appointed a panel to review the issue and create uniform penalties; those were due by July. He also instituted a policy of random drug testing, and sends inspectors to monitor compliance in firehouses.

— New York Daily News