Communications Committee Meeting

Thursday, April 18, 2002

Office of Emergency Medical Services – Richmond, Virginia

Attendees:  Scott Chandler (via conference call), Gary Critzer (via conference call), D. Terry Hall (via conference call), Ron Wade (via conference call), Richard Rubino (via conference call), Everette Vaughan, Connie Purvis, John Hudson, Gary DeBrulier (guest - VAGEMSA), and Karen Cheatham (OEMS staff) 

Call to Order:

Scott Chandler called meeting to order at 10:03 and requested Everette Vaughan to facilitate the meeting.

Review of EMS Communications Directory:

Scott Winston sat in on the meeting to review the discussions had at the Office of Emergency Medical Services regarding the EMS Communications Directory.  This meeting discussed the contract option for the communications directory.  The question was raised as to whether or not the rules and regulations needed to be changed to reflect the need to carry the document in vehicles.  It was decided that they may need to be changed, but not until after the document had been created.  It is expected agencies will voluntarily carry and use the document. 

Scott Chandler made the following motion. 

MOTION:  The Communications Committee moves to authorize the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop an EMS Communications Resources Directory to consolidate the EMS Communications Plan and EMS Communications Directory 

Connie Purvis seconded the motion.  The vote was taken and the motion carried unanimously. 

OEMS Funding And Personnel Issues Impacting Communications:

OEMS has been given approval by Deputy Commissioner Burns to start writing an Employee Work Profile (EWP) for a full-time communications position whose primary duties would include overseeing development of the Communications Plan and Directory.  The office had previously developed two EWP's.  One was Emergency Ops Training Coordinator; the other was Communications Coordinator and Engineer (Engineer has since been dropped– will oversee Communications Directory and Plan, staff Comm. Committee, will work on EMD proposal, OEMS Communications issues).   

As for funding, no one can describe how the budget will end up in the next year.  The task force for budgeting will meet again next week to continue discussions.  Everette stated that he will try to have a position description for the position of Communications Coordinator to send downtown for approval.  The goal is to have an individual hired by July 1, 2002.   

A question was raised regarding the use of alternative funding sources for the Communications Resources Directory.  It was brought up that the Health Department Bioterrorism Plan may include different funding methods for communication projects.  Other funding can come from Four-for-Life funding. 

A discussion arose regarding contracting for the creation of the Communications Resources Directory.  In order to contract for the document, the committee must have a little more detail before creating an RFP or contract.   

Members of the committee would like to see a formatted Regional Council plan to follow so that information received from Councils regarding interface of local communications plans will be reflected in the Regional plans.  The committee must create something to support the efforts of the regions, especially those still operating under the older systems.  The draft must differentiate between PCS and Cellular service, as they are different.  An outline will be created, getting input from the entire committee, so something can be put into a draft that is workable.

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Minutes from January 31, 2002  Communications Committee Meeting

A question was raised as to whether or not the minutes reflected the discussion of the use of Opticom systems.  After a brief discussion it was determined that it was not a committee issue.  A motion was made to approve the minutes from the January 31, 2002 Communications Committee meeting.  The motion was carried and the minutes were accepted as submitted.   

Discussion of Appropriate Time and Method to Appoint an EMD Subcommittee of the Communications Committee:

At the last Governor’s Advisory Board meeting, the committee recommended that an EMD subcommittee be formed.  Once hired, the new Communications Coordinator would take the lead role with the subcommittee providing guidance and could go to GAB with issues.  Everette asked the committee to define the membership of the subcommittee, bringing back a list of names of individuals to sit on the committee, as well as their qualifications, to the next committee meeting.  The committee can also look through APCO and other lists to get potential members or even different entities through the EMS system to make recommendations.  Everette recommended that that subcommittee be kept to a reasonable number so that work is more easily produced.  Larger groups can be used as focus groups to send information back to the subcommittee, but the subcommittee would still be the main group.  Scott Chandler asked members to e-mail him with list of desired characteristics for members with a hope to formalize the subcommittee by July. 

Summary of Data from Wireless E911 Board Survey:

John Hudson stated that overall the survey was unsuccessful.  The data collected was inaccurate because many of the questions asked were wireline instead of wireless. 

Communications Training and Workshop Considerations for Symposium 2002:

This is the last chance to get a speaker for the 2002 EMS Symposium.  It was asked whether or not there was a telematics/infomatics class scheduled to take place during symposium.  The Shenandoah Valley Project is on the agenda to talk about this subject. 

STARS (Staff Report):

Everette stated that he is the Department of Health Committee representative.  He went on to report that the Office of EMS went through an interview which was conducted by a private consulting agency and the Attorney General's Office.  The purpose of the interview was to look at the management of the project.  They wanted to know what opinion the office had regarding the management of the project.  Currently there are five offices in the Department of Health participating (OEMS, Division of Bioterrorism, Water Programs, Chief Medical Examiner, and Radiological Health).

9-1-1        (Wireline and Wireless):

Nothing was discussed regarding this topic.

Other Reports and Topics of Interest:

Richard Rubino stated that in March, the FCC released a proposed rule making to restructure 800 mhz bands to address interference issues between Public Safety agencies. A concern was raised whether or not this would become advantageous and if the committee would have to redo its work after releasing a directory. 

Additional Meeting Dates:

The committee decided that the next meeting would be held on July 11, 2002 at 10 a.m.  It will be held in the library with a teleconference option.

An additional meeting was scheduled for October 17, 2002 at 10 a.m. at the Office of EMS with the teleconference option again. 

There was no further business, and the meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m.