News archive: Dec
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Volunteer Opportunity for EMS Personnel
Since March 2018, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), Bureau for Public Health, has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of confirmed cases of acute Hepatitis A virus (HAV) across the state. The HAV outbreak in West Virginia includes over 2,000 confirmed cases in 40 counties. BPH is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to provide HAV vaccine to at-risk populations and are assisting Local Health Departments to implement vaccination strategies across the state. As part of this statewide initiative, BPH will be coordinating and participating in a series of vaccination clinics in January 2019. We are currently targeting 7 Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT) Comprehensive Treatment Centers located in Raleigh, Harrison, Wood, Mingo, Kanawha, Ohio and Cabell counties. The times for the clinics will be from 5:00 am to 1:00 pm with the first taking place in Cabell County on January 4, 2019.
Ambulance Reimbursement WV-18-005 Approval
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has completed its review of West Virginia’s State Plan Amendment (SPA) 18-005, Ambulance Reimbursement. We are pleased to inform you that this SPA is approved with an effective date of January 1, 2019. Enclosed is a copy of the CMS Summary Page (CMS-179 form) and the approved State Plan page. If you have further questions about this SPA, please contact Dan Belnap of my staff at 215-861-4273.
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Passage of SIREN ACT: Federal Grants for Rural Agencies
Passage of SIREN Act to provide federal grants for rural agencies To read more about this legislation, please click on the link” https://www.emsworld.com/news/1221880/passage-siren-act-provide-federal-grants-rural-agencies
Monday, December 17, 2018
West Virginia Active Threat EMS
The West Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services (WVOEMS) and the West Virginia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (EMSAC) have been working over the past year to evaluate and implement training for first responders specifically relating to active threat situations. This has been no small undertaking as many agencies tend to drift in one direction or another. No program of this nature can be successful without buy-in from all agencies respectively. Acts of violence present unusual circumstances that require a collaborative response from public safety agencies to mitigate the threats and to provide immediate treatment to those injured.
Nemsis V3 Update
As vendors pass testing, they are placed on the EMSPIC website: https://www.emspic.org/applications/continuum/ Scroll down to the section labeled "Approved to Send Data to the West Virginia Office of EMS." Currently approved vendors include: Beyond Lucid Technologies emsCharts ImageTrend RAM Software Systems
Thursday, December 6, 2018
EMSAC Meeting at 2PM
EMSAC will be held at 2PM at Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority located at 601 Brook Street, Charleston, WV 25301. The phone number is 304-345-2312 should you need directions. Parking may be somewhat of an issue but you can park in the hospital parking garage and walk across the street if need be.