FY 2017 budget spending package signed into law

FY 2017 budget spending package signed into law

In May, President Donald Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 (H.R. 244), an omnibus spending bill that will fund programs and activities of the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2017.

According to the Congressional Fire Services Institute, the bill contains the following appropriations for programs related to the fire and emergency services at the same funding level as for FY 2016:

• The Assistance to Firefighters and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant programs; they are funded at $690 million, to be split evenly between the two programs.
• The State Homeland Security Grant Program, funded at $467 million.
• The United States Fire Administration, funded at $44 million.

The following programs are funded at increased levels from the previous year:

• The Urban Area Security Initiative, funded at $605 million, an increase of $5 million.
• The Urban Search and Rescue Response System bill, funded at $38,200,000, an increase of $3.1 million.
• The Volunteer Fire Assistance program, funded at $15 million, an increase of $2 million.

CPAT-like program study underway at USF

Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) are testing a new exercise program modeled after the Firefighter Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) to determine if it can prevent firefighter injuries. The International Association of Fire Fighters/International Association of Fire Chiefs-certified CPAT mimics strenuous activities performed in emergency response and helps determine if an applicant has the physical endurance for a firefighting career.

The study uses telemetric electromyography (EMG) and motion analysis to assess muscular activation and skeletal motion. At each visit, firefighters will wear EMG and motion sensors while they perform each CPAT obstacle and weightlifting exercise; researchers will compare activation and movement among different weightlifting exercises and firefighter activities.

Injury prevention and physical fitness are paramount in the fire service. Study Lead Author Charity L. Lane, MS, MA, CPT, USAW, FNS, explains that the CPAT project is the latest in an ongoing line of research focusing on improved firefighter safety and health. The team’s research program on preventing back injury in firefighters, led by USF Center for Neuromusculoskeletal Research Director John Mayer and funded through a Federal Emergency Management Agency Fire Act grant, is underway and reportedly has shown promising preliminary results; final results are expected to be available in the fall.

EMS Agenda 2050 Panel named; ideas welcome

A 10-member panel, the Technical Expert Panel (TEP), has been charged with creating a vision for the nation’s emergency medical services (EMS), including overseeing the EMS Agenda 2050, a two-year project of writing a new Agenda for the Future. The TEP will provide multiple opportunities for the community to provide input and feedback, including in-person meetings held in four cities across the country in late 2017 and early 2018, as well as webinars, conference sessions, and association meetings. Anyone with ideas for EMS Agenda 2050 is encouraged to share them through the project Web site, emsagenda2050.org.

The TEP members are Derek Bergsten, MPA, CFO, CEMSO, MIFIreE, chief, Rockford (IL) Fire Department; Marianne Gausche-Hill, MD, FACEP, FAAP, FAEMS, medical director, Los Angeles County (CA) EMS Agency; Andy Gienapp, MS, NRP, manager, Wyoming Office of EMS, Wyoming Department of Health; Alexander Isakov, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAEMS, professor of emergency medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; William Leggio, EdD, NRP, Paramedic Program coordinator and clinical faculty, Creighton University, Omaha, NE; Grace Mandel, MPH, EMT, project manager, Baltimore City (MD) Department of Health; Kevin G. Munjal, MD, MPH, MSCR, assistant professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY; Kyra Neeley, M.Ed., EMT-P, lieutenant, fire commissioner liaison, Fire Department of New York EMS; Ernesto Rodriguez, MA, EMT-P, chief, Austin-Travis County (TX) Emergency Medical Services; and YiDing Yu, MD, founder and CEO, Twiage/instructor, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

EMS Agenda 2050 is supported by funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Office of EMS, the EMS for Children Program at the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Affairs. For additional information, visit emsagenda2050.org.

IAFC, AT&T to continue educating first responders

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and AT&T have renewed and expanded their relationship to continue to serve leaders of the fire and emergency services through education. Activities will include focus group sessions, presentations, and webinars.

“AT&T has been a long-standing supporter of the public safety community, equipping first responders with the communications solutions, products, and services they need to do their jobs safely,” notes Chief John Sinclair, IAFC president and chairman of the board.

“Fire-rescue and emergency medical services play a critical role in every community they serve,” explains Jim Bugel, vice president of AT&T Public Safety Solutions. “We couldn’t be more proud to continue our support of the IAFC and the important work that these first responders do each day.”

NIH: Emergency departments could help reduce suicide attempts

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded research shows that an intervention such as a follow-up phone call can reduce the risk of future suicide attempts for people at risk. The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry in April (http://bit.ly/2qoleKY), indicates that “hospital emergency departments [EDs] can play a vital role in lowering the number of suicide attempts among adults by as much as 30 percent.”

The five-year study, “Emergency Department Safety Assessment and Follow-up Evaluation” (ED-SAFE), according to the NIMH, is the largest ED-based suicide intervention trial ever conducted in the United States. It reveals that screening in emergency departments, followed by safety planning guidance and periodic phone check-ins, led to a 30-percent decrease in suicide attempts over the 52 weeks of follow-up, compared to standard emergency department care. Nearly 1,400 suicidal patients in eight hospital emergency rooms across seven states participated in the study.

Jane Pearson, Ph.D., chair of the Suicide Research Consortium at the NIMH, notes: “These recent findings show that if ED care also includes further assessment, safety planning, and telephone-based support after discharge, there is a significant reduction in later suicide attempts among adults.” Lead study author Ivan Miller, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, explains that “being able to impact attempts with this population and with a relatively limited intervention is encouraging.”

Researchers from Butler Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, the University of Colorado Depression Center, Cape Cod (MA) Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and the Division of Services and Intervention Research at NIMH collaborated in the study.

NGA issues paper on emergency communications

The National Governors Association’s (NGA) “Improving Emergency Communications Through Governance” outlines how collaboration and participation between the governor and relevant emergency response stakeholders are essential to maintaining, improving, and ensuring interoperable public safety communication capabilities. The paper includes lessons learned from the 2016 NGA policy academy in which Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Utah, and West Virginia participated. It is available at http://bit.ly/2pGUumF.

HHS: EMS should be in Health Information Exchange (HIE)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health (ONC) advocates that emergency medical services (EMS) improve data sharing with other health care providers. Its report “Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Data Integration to Optimize Patient Care,” available at http://bit.ly/2ptFVrm, outlines the “SAFR” model framework for exchanging EMS health information, developed by the California EMS Authority:

• Search: Allow EMS providers in the field to search for hospital and other records that will help them make treatment and transport decisions.
• Alert: Notify hospitals of incoming EMS patients with automated systems that populate emergency department dashboards with information entered by EMS in the field.
• File: Incorporate the data in EMS electronic patient care reports directly into patients’ longitudinal health records.
• Reconcile: Provide feedback on outcomes and other hospital data to EMS agencies for billing and quality improvement.

“Our partners at ONC have shown that integrating EMS into health information exchanges is already making a difference for patients and communities and opening the door for new delivery models like community paramedicine and mobile integrated health care,” says Jon Krohmer, MD, director of the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration Office of EMS. “These efforts are possible because of the EMS community’s commitment to the development and use of a standardized, interoperable EMS information system and the adoption of NEMSIS Version 3.” The report includes profiles of the five regions that involve EMS in HIE projects.

LINE-OF-DUTY DEATHS

April 7. Firefighter III Charles “Rick” Gentilcore, 52, Montgomery County Fire Rescue Services – Burtonsville Volunteer Fire Department, Gaithersburg, MD: fatal injury still to be reported.

April 14. Chief/Medic James “Jim” Joseph Benken, 65, Wyoming (OH) Fire and EMS: apparent cardiac arrest suffered on April 13.

April 17. Captain Michael “Bubba” Eric Pennell, 49, Central Alexander Fire Department, Taylorsville, NC: cause unknown.

April 20. Firefighter William N. Tolley, 42, Fire Department of New York: injuries sustained in a five-story fall while fighting a residential fire.

April 28. Battalion Chief Jerome Boyd, 55, Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department: cause of death unknown.

April 28. Firefighter William F. Gerace, 54, Gibbsboro (NJ) Fire Company No. 1: pulmonary embolism resulting from a broken leg suffered at mandatory training on April 10.

April 28. Firefighter David Lemponen, 83, Austinburg (OH) Fire Department: injuries sustained when struck by a car at a minor vehicle fire on April 27.

April 30. Chief Doug Deckard, 51, Cove Creek Pearson Fire Department, Quitman, AR: injuries sustained when struck by a car while checking flood waters.

May 30. Firefighter/Paramedic James “Dewon” Wells, 52, Montgomery County Fire/EMS, Mount Sterling, KY: cause of death unknown.

Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database