The Wisconsin Stars of Life honorees, recently inducted at two ceremonies in Green Bay this past September, found themselves on Tuesday, October 27, standing in the Office of Governor Scott Walker at the State Capitol for a meet and greet opportunity and photo with the Governor.

The daylong event also included a personalized welcome message by Department of Health Services (DHS) Administrator Karen McKeown, meetings with legislators, and topped off later that afternoon with the full Assembly adopting a resolution acknowledging the Stars, to include a standing ovation.  To read the resolution, click here.

Wisconsin Stars of Life has been produced by the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin since 2006.  The next Stars event and nomination period is sometime in 2017.

>> Click to download the 2015 Wisconsin Stars of Life program booklet, which includes information on each honoree.

At a Stars of Life State Capitol event on October 27, the Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin (PAAW) recognized Senator Sheila Harsdorf and Representative Paul Tittl for their their support of Wisconsin emergency medical services and the ambulance industry.  Harsdorf and Tittl were both presented with the President's Award by PAAW President Patrick Ryan.  This was the first time the award was presented by the Association.

According to PAAW President Ryan, "Both Senator Harsdorf and Representative Tittl were instrumental in the Association's efforts with the TRIP bill that Governor Walker signed into law this past August, and very supportive of our Stars of Life program". 

TRIP, which stands for Tax Recovery Interception Program, allows all Wisconsin ambulance services to use the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's TRIP recovery process to attempt to collect on ambulance 911 patient transportation bills that go unpaid. 

Pictured: Senator Sheila Harsdorf, PAAW President Patrick Ryan, and Representative Paul Tittl.

November 1 marked the official beginning of the state's License/Certification renewal process, which continues to June 30, 2016.

>> Click to review the Wisconsin EMS Office's Memo 1505 recently emailed to all providers about the 2016-2018 License/Certification renewal process.

All continuing education is a personal responsibility.

For the 2016-2018 License/Certification renewal process, your initial or continuing education requirements need to be completed between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2016. Flexible continuing education may be obtained through any format, but needs to meet the requirements set forth in Administrative Code DHS 110.07.

>> Click for the renewal education refresher requirements.

Life Link III® (MN) saves significant time and improves operational efficiency
by moving personnel scheduling to the cloud.
 
>> Click to watch the video Customer Report.

Critical thinking and efficiency are key with all air medical service organizations and they’re continually seeking ways to improve methods and procedures.  With the increasing use of “the cloud” for administrative processes, air transport companies are utilizing online software to increase administrative efficiencies and employee communication.
 
Life Link III is a leading medical air transport company in Minnesota. Effectively scheduling 70 medical personnel at six bases on a Google calendar became a daily burden.  They sought a better method and found Aladtec - an online employee scheduling and workforce management system.
 
“What was bad about the Google calendar was the inability to access it unless I was at a desktop computer.  It was highly inefficient, created a lot of work and there was absolutely zero automation to it.  Every trade and time-off request had to be entered manually. Having to allot that sort of time for simply scheduling was detrimental to completing our mission,” explains Nate Lebeck, Operations Manager/Critical Care Flight Paramedic, Life Link III, Minneapolis, Minnesota. “By switching to Aladtec I save at least 1 to 2 hours a day.  Add that up, and it frees as many as 10 hours a week for me to concentrate on more important tasks.”
 
Since Aladtec is a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) product, it’s available 24/7 from any computer, smartphone or other mobile device via the Internet. The Life Link clinicians appreciate the option of using the mobile web application. “I use the mobile app because obviously I don't have to be at a desktop. Whether you're at work or at home, it's right there in the palm of your hand,” shares Phil Nicolas, Flight Paramedic, Life Link III.
 
With the implementation of Aladtec, Lebeck says everything has become automated. When a clinician is hired, their shift rotations are permanently placed in the system. The responsibility to make trades and request time off is up to the employee to make within the Aladtec system.  Then, their supervisor can approve it, or not approve it, with just the touch of a button. Life Link III also uses Aladtec to schedule outreach events and ride along requests.
 
“I really do like Aladtec. I don't say that about a lot of products but this system has really made my job much more efficient.  I would absolutely recommend Aladtec to other organizations; it’s a very good fit for our industry,” Lebeck concludes.
 
About Life Link III®:
Life Link III operates six helicopter bases serving patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota. The company’s helicopter and airplane services provide on-scene emergency response and inter-facility transport for patients requiring critical care. Life Link III is a non-profit consortium and is the air medical transport program for 44 hospitals across 9 health systems. For more information, visit www.lifelinkiii.com.
 
About Aladtec:
They proudly provide online employee scheduling and workforce management software to over 1,500 organizations, primarily within the Public Safety Sector. These customers count on Aladtec every day to help them save time and improve efficiency.  For information about their affordable industry specific options, or to try a free trial, please visit www.aladtec.com.

Auvi-Q (epinephrine injection, USP): Recall - Potential Inaccurate Dosage Delivery

Sanofi US is voluntarily recalling all Auvi-Q (epinephrine injection, USP). The recall involves all Auvi-Q currently on the market and includes both the 0.15 mg and 0.3 mg strengths for hospitals, retailers and consumers. This includes lot number 2299596 through 3037230, which expire March 2016 through December 2016. The products have been found to potentially have inaccurate dosage delivery. See the Press Release for product photos.

As of October 26, 2015, Sanofi has received 26 reports of suspected device malfunctions in the US and Canada. None of these device malfunction reports have been confirmed. In these reports, patients have described symptoms of the underlying hypersensitivity reaction. No fatal outcomes have been reported among these cases.

If a patient experiencing a serious allergic reaction (i.e., anaphylaxis) did not receive the intended dose, there could be significant health consequences, including death because anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening condition.

To download the FDA's reporting form click here or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form. 

>> Click to read the MedWatch safety alert, including a link to the Press Release.

>> Click to listen to the on-demand playback of this podcast.

During the EMS Live in Wisconsin podcast on Tuesday, October 13, co-hosts and guests discussed the following:

1. At the start of the program we received a Community Paramedicine update from PAAW President Patrick Ryan.

2. At 5:00 minutes into the program we discussed an innovative CPAP device manufactured by Pulmodyne.  Click images below to enlarge.

3. At 20:00 minutes into the program we learned about a technique at Lifestar EMS to improve congestive heart failure patient (CHF) treatment and outcomes using high dose nitro.  Assistant training coordinator Tyler Christifulli discussed the procedure approved by their local medical director.  This procedure is outside the "standard of care" and requires local medical director approval.  Tyler provided the following supporting information regarding high dose nitro for CHF:

Emcrit Podcast: http://emcrit.org/podcasts/scape/
 
Crashing Patients: http://crashingpatient.com/medical-surgical/cardiology/heart-failure-acute-pulmonary-edema.htm/
 
Annals EM 1997: http://crashingpatient.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/nitro-abstract.png
 
Piyush Mallick Study: http://emcrit.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/Nitro-Bolus-Abstract.pdf
 
Video of High Dose Nitro in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAiJQeddf6I

4. At 40:00 minutes into the program Paramedic Systems of Wisconsin (PSOW) Conference Director Dan Williams discussed some of this year's topics and what was top of mind with EMS leaders in Wisconsin.  The conference was held in Green Bay and concluded on Friday, September 25.

>> Click to listen to the on-demand playback of this podcast.

The newest "Standby for Tones" blog post by featured writer and La Crosse paramedic, Crystal Wallin, was just posted, entitled "PR - Public Relations or Potential Recruits". 

The next live program of Wisconsin EMS Live is Tuesday, October 13, starting at 9:00 a.m.  The dial-in number is 646-929-1081, or listen on any internet connected device at this link:  http://tobtr.com/7986675

Program topics include:

1. An innovative new CPAP device manufactured by Pulmodyne.   Find a couple pictures of the device below.

2. Improve congestive heart failure patient (CHF) treatment and outcomes with a technique being used at Lifestar EMS.  We'll discuss further with assistant training coordinating Tyler Christifulli.

           

On a regular basis the past few months there has been a conference call to discuss Community Paramedicine (CP).  Participation is open to anyone interested. These conversations took a big leap forward this past week in Madison with legislative visits the past two days, and more scheduled in the near term.   

According to Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin President Patrick Ryan, "Our talking points about the importance of CP were very well received by everyone we spoke with.  So well in fact, multiple legislators have expressed interest in introducing the legislation in the next few weeks."  

Besides PAAW, the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association had representatives at the Sate Capitol, coordinating their efforts with legislative meetings.

To listen to the latest CP information from the October 1 conference call, click to download http://tobtr.com/7883515.  The call lasted 20 minutes.

To download the latest CP legislation (draft #6 dated 9/28/2015), go to www.paaw.us/cp, look for "Legislation Draft #6" in the blog post area.

The next CP conference call is Friday, Oct. 30 starting at 9:00 a.m.  Again, it's open to anyone interested and is moderated by PAAW President Patrick Ryan.