Im sharing a forwarded email that I received today that was submitted to all City Council members as well as the City Mayor regarding a host of open records requests for the proposed Fire-based EMS system. These are apparent questions and documents that have failed to be answered or produced and I fear that they may be getting ignored. Please educate yourself and echo this citizens concerns and questions to your councilmen as our elected officials are clearly trying to push their own agendas forward and not the ones of their constituents.. Wheres the transparency??? Kevin Tisdell ___________________________________________ Subject: PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST (OPEN RECORDS) for Fire-based EMS Technical Response Vehicle Ambulances Mr. Hutchinson / Mr. Mayor / Councilmembers: I am adding you to another round of public information request to help bring light to this issue. I appreciate your participation with this important matter. If any member would like to respond to this message, I would be delighted to email you 2 attachments that clearly outlines the International Association of Fire Fighter’s (IAFF) – The Fire Union Leadership’s Toolkit which clearly outlines their steering committee’s (& Fire Chief Sullivan’s) talking points as the playbook to acquire more budget dollars in order to build Fire Union Ranks & Dues by using the takeover of existing EMS systems as their platform to accomplish this. I didn’t want to include attachments here that might filter out the receipt of my public information request in this email, but please feel free to respond if you would like to review this Union EMS Talking Points Toolkit. Fire Unions are using Marginal Cost budgeting templates for demonstrating artificial budget comparisons with existing service (where EMS-based models are nearly always based on Unit/Hour Utilization ratios). While Marginal Cost templates are good for commercial manufacturing (of widgets for example) and represent the cost of the production of one unit (a single EMS call in this instance), the use of this model is flawed when negative external and internal factors of production exist. For instance, where a lack of infrastructure (in this instance the lack of supporting EMS infrastructure) is present, a lack of duplication, or a lack of qualified personnel for example, is present. While this may be appropriate for evaluation for some EMS systems, Fire-based EMS Marginal Cost budget planning is not appropriate for the City of Georgetown or its citizens where matters of EMS is concerned. There are instances however, the City of Austin EMS for example, where budgets are out of control, Government oversight identical, duplication of assets & services rampant, faltering clinical outcomes, and overburdened EMS professionals & qualifications diminished and poor morale is at highpoint, where arguments for a Fire-based EMS takeover might be more relevant given its proposed $89M EMS budget. I’d urge you to look deeper at the hidden agendas from the Fire Union’s Bible for Union member growth. It’s open, it’s clear, yet it’s disturbing when considering Georgetown fits more into a Conservative mold than do the City of Austin constituents. Please understand, I entirely support Clinical Improvement for the Georgetown Fire Department. I think it is safe to say, the cart is rolling uncomfortably downhill while the horses at the top are dead! For the citizens of the community, I humbly request that you not put the cart before the horse, and at least understand all of the issues and implications of expanding Fire in this direction. There are many ways beyond EMS transport for the Fire Chief to improve quality and Fire integration and EMS improvement in this community and I’m happy to help in any way I can with a number of ideas to improve community clinical outcomes that involve Fire. Please see below for my next round of public information requested from the City of Georgetown Fire Department and this council: 1. Record of all GFD personnel participation in in any EMS continuing education, shift-track, skills & medical protocol training attended over the last 3 years. 2. Records of any GFD participation in any hospital committee, state or regional trauma and/or advisory council, GTAC, CATRAC, & Depart. Of State Health meetings over the last 3 years 3. GFD 911/EMS Call taking policies & procedures for addressing incoming EMS call request 4. Records of GFD 911/EMS call operator training & education records related to patient triage & self help instruction 5. Records & proof of all GFD personnels Emergency Medical Dispatch certification 6. Statistical Records of all medical skills interventions & medication administrations by GFD personnel the last 3 yrs. 7. GFD policy & procedures for documenting skills & medication administration. 8. GFD Patient Care Recording policies & procedures 9. Proof of any EMS After Action Review and/or quality control meetings that have regularly taken place over the last 3 years. 10. Proof of existing Computer Aided Dispatch infrastructure as it pertains to managing EMS requests. 11. Computer Aided Dispatch call taking EMS call taking criteria (policies & procedures) 12. Copy of GFD trauma & medical alert categorization policies & standard operating procedures related to EMS transportation. 13. Copy of GFD established mutual aid agreements related to its use of proposed TRVs 14. GFD failure rate statistics on current GFD supported personnel attending or discharged from Paramedic school 15. GFD record indicating the anticipated percentage of GFD Paramedic school attendees that will fail. I apologize for the workload this may create but due diligence is the responsibility of the entire community and only those in the know understand the true impact of such a change. v/r Ronny Wilson From: Ronny Wilson Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 3:52 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST (OPEN RECORDS) Mayor/Councilmembers: Please see request below. I’m still waiting on a response to publically submitted and open electronic documents that are easily accessible. I understand the time to delivery parameters but I just wanted you all to have this ahead of next Tuesday’s discussion on the matter. Thank you. From: Ronny Wilson Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2014 11:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request - Georgetown Fire Department EMS-TRV Study & other questions Mr. Hutchinson: In light of Fire Chief Sullivan’s late July 2014 Georgetown Fire Department (GFD) budget workshop which outlined a plan to add EMS services to its Fire Protection mission and the recent 1st reading and approval of the City’s budget that includes such a plan, I am making a few open records inquiries in order to learn more about the proposed budget surrounding the addition of these services. I’m a resident of ESD 8, a business operator in the City of Georgetown, and a private stakeholder and member of the healthcare business community. I appreciate your time and any answers and/or electronic data that you can provide. I understand there may be an cost to me to receive this information and will happy to cover the expense if you can provide me with the essential details to do so. Here is the information I am requesting (in electronic or paper format – whichever is easier): 1. Chief Sullivan’s Technical Response Vehicle (TRV) proposal that adds 2 ground ambulances for GFD to run EMS operations in the City of Georgetown. This is a PowerPoint briefed in an open budget workshop to the City Council-members that outlines a line item budget of a deficit neutral EMS program. 2. Recent GFD initiated studies or consultant generated documents that would have been presented or referred to by the Chief in support the TRV, GFD-based EMS plan. This was referenced by Chief Sullivan in the 1st reading of this next fiscal budget. 3. Chief Sullivan emails which reference the city’s fire-based EMS plan (reference anywhere in the email). 4. All Georgetown FD leadership communications with regional or Texas EMS Private EMS industry providers. 5. Any communication to GFD Chief or upper management from incoming private EMS industry, their directors, officers, and middle managers, or affiliated holding companies. 6. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Quality Assurance and Surveillance Plan. 7. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Management Plan. 8. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Response and Shift Readiness Plan. 9. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Safety Plan. 10. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Medical Protocols. 11. Copy of the GFD (proposed or otherwise) Fire-based EMS Vehicle Stocking List/Plan. 12. Copy of the GFD State of Texas EMS Licensing documents. A few quick questions that can be immediately answered: 1. Chief Sullivan referenced (in the July Fire-based EMS budget workshop) that his Paramedics will be able to perform Central Line Insertions or Cricothyrotomy placements during vehicle rescues because they are already responding to EMS calls. Can you please provide a historical record of the number of EMS responses that GFD first responders have attended where either of these two Intensive Care Unit-level skills have ever been performed by any Paramedic in charge? 2. Chief Sullivan reported that a separate division/department/company has been created within the General Budget for the City of Georgetown to support the Fire-based EMS/TRV plan. Is there an official name for this program? Does the program plan include private EMS or other healthcare services/industry providers? Does the program contain planned private membership arrangements outside of the stated use of GFD EMS response and transport vehicles? Does the plan include the use of private EMS transportation when GFD EMS is unable to meet NFPA 1710 ALS response criteria? 3. Does Georgetown Fire Department BLS response compliance (NFPA 1710) meet the 4 minute 90% measure as a First Responder Organization? If answer to #1 is clear, what is the GFD’s compliance % within 4 minute response time requirement? 4. Prior to the TRV, Fire-based EMS proposal, what was the rate of participation in Williamson County EMS’ shift-track and skills training? 5. What GFD policies exist to support, mandate, or require Firefighter participation in Williamson County EMS’ shift-track and skills training? 6. In the July budget workshop, Chief Sullivan briefed the council with comparisons on his ability to create an EMS environment that can increase survival rate percentages during witnessed cardiac arrest from an east coast Fire-based EMS provider against existing cardiac arrest survival percentages from our local EMS provider. Can the Chief please clarify this comparison because it appears the comparison is designed to coax the council into believing this to be a true comparison and an attainable % mark? The key word left out of the Chief comparison is witnessed. He compared a witness % rate from the east coast to an overall-unwitnessed cardiac arrest rate. v/r Ronny Wilson
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 20:10:53 +0000
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