Committees
East Region Committee Overviews
Regional EMS & Trauma Care Council
The Regional Council has a multidisciplinary composition consisting of local EMS/TC councils, trauma designated healthcare facilities, elected officials, consumers, law enforcement, government agencies, helicopter service, fire and EMS, public health, and more. Meetings are held bi-monthly on the second Wednesday of the month from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Membership is recommended by the local EMS/TC council and forwarded on to the Department of Health with final approval by the Washington State Secretary of Health.
Chairs & Executive
This committee consists of the Executive Officers, President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer and each of the approved committee chairs from each of the committees listed below. They have the authority to do business for the council as identified in the East Region EMS/TC bylaws when the Regional Council does not meet. This committee oversees the fiscal responsibilities of the council, such as preparation and implementation of the annual budget. They are also involved in developing administrative/corporate policies of the Council. This committee generally meets on the second Wednesday of every odd month from 12:30 -2:30 p.m.
Communications
This Committee focuses on communication from hospital to hospital, and prehospital to hospital regionwide. The committee is working in collaboration with the Hospital Planning Committee and the Department of Health to implement a regional hospital to hospital narrowband radio system. This committee generally meets on the third Thursday of every odd month from 10 a.m. to Noon.
Hospital Planning
The Hospital Planning Committee is tasked with updating the Region 9 Hospital Response Plan. This plan includes all nine counties in the East Region and Columbia County. The committee generally meets the 4th Thursday of every month, but to be sure there’s a meeting, please check the meeting calendar.
Injury Prevention & Public Education (IPPE)
The Regional Council contracts with the Spokane Regional Health District to provide us an Injury Prevention Coordinator. Although the Injury Prevention Committee’s focus is on Falls Prevention, there are a number of best practiceinjury prevention programs that are supported by the council. You will be able to find this list posted on the Injury Prevention page. The committee has a wonderful network of providers throughout the region and the state that can provide a number of references to people looking for information on various programs. Assessments are conducted regularly to identify the IPPE programs being conducted within the region, and information is provided to all interested parties.
Pediatrics
The Pediatric Committee is new in 2010. They are currently planning a Pediatric Conference on October 7 and 8, 2011. Dr. David Tuggle, who was involved in the Oklahoma Bombing and has been widely acclaimed for his participation in that event, has been secured as the keynote speaker for the conference.
The committee has also received a $45,000 EMSC grant from the Department of Health to provide pediatric equipment to a number of critical access hospitals in the East Region and North Central Region during 2010 and 2011.
Prehospital & Transportation
This committee is responsibility for the development for Regional Patient Care Procedures (PCP) which can be found on the Documents page of this website. The committee reviews recommended minimum /maximum numbers and levels verified EMS prehospital agencies as submitted by the county EMS/TC council prior to recommending to the Regional Council. This is important because without the Prehospital & Transportation recommendation the Regional Council cannot recommend approval to the Department of Health.
The committee is currently planning an Educational Forum to be held during the Regional Council meeting in April 2011.
Rehabilitation
St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute is the only Level I Trauma Designated Rehab Facility in the East Region and in Eastern Washington. The Rehabilitation Committee works to publicize ongoing education opportunities, implement a process to identify and recruit membership from each of the nine counties, and create and maintain a Rehab Resource Directory. Additionally, the committee annually provides a trauma case presentation to the Regional Council and the EMS & Trauma Steering Committee to showcase the continuum of coordinated system care.
Training & Education
The Training and Education Committee is essential in evaluating regional training needs. They work closely with Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) to provide ongoing Training Education Program rural EMS agencies in the region,. Each year the committee conducts a survey to evaluate training needs for the coming year. A link to this survey is posted each year on the website and distributed via email regionwide.
WEMSIS
(Washington Emergency Medical Services Information System)
The East Region WEMSIS Committee has been actively working with the Department of Health to provide training regionwide to EMS providers on the web-based program. This is a relatively new committee to the East Region.
