MERGINET.News - June 18 Update Now on the Net

["Richard Bilger" <rbilger@merginet.com>]

We're pleased to bring you the latest additions to
MERGINET.News (June 2001 Vol. 6, No. 6).
You can view this issue online at:

http://www.merginet.com/index-news.htm
Select "MERGINET.News" or "Current Issue" from
the navigation menu's.

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FROM THE EDITOR:
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Click onto www.MERGINET.News for the latest from your worldwide web
dedicated to emergency care. June 18 brings new material that includes a
solid and useful feature article about Domestic Violence by Jim Crabtree. In
addition, the irritating issue of EMS diverts (often thanks to the nursing
shortage and overcrowded EDs) has us all pulling out our hair; journalist
Tonya Shafer helps bring sense to that terrible trend.

New! MERGINET.com has started an Ambulance Billing & Reimbursement (ABR)
Discussion List, moderated by our own Tom Scott. ABR is a discussion of
issues related to billing, reimbursement and collections for ambulance
services in the USA.  The goal is to provide a means for everyone to share
his or her problems and solutions to improve reimbursement for the industry.
Participants include ambulance service managers, billing service managers,
coding clerks, paramedics, EMTs, third party payers, and even members of the
public who have questions about ambulance billing issues. The list is
intended to foster professional level discussion and debate. The moderator
reserves the right to reject submissions that are not related to the topic
matter of the list, SPAM (commercial email), and flames (personal attacks on
individuals or their positions that are not supported by reasoned
arguments.) To subscribe, go to: www.merginet.com/index-forums.htm. Complete
the form and choose ABR at the bottom. Enjoy!

Our second release of the month regularly brings new material from our
columnists. Click on Law Bytes to see what Doug Wolfberg has to say about
“Unbecoming Conduct.” John Mateus wants students in classrooms everywhere to
have “An Opportunity to Respond.” Don Hunjadi shares a quick observation
about patient surveys. And in Management Matters, John Becknell describes
how to choose a supervisor. You’ll also find a book review that gives a
resource for recruiting volunteers.

As always, please don’t be shy about sending us your Reader Feedback. We
always appreciate your thoughts and ideas. We also enjoy your compliments!
We write back to everyone as promptly as possible.

Warm regards, Kate Dernocoeur, Editor


New in this issue!

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Features
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>> Spouse Abuse: A Short History with Informative Points for EMS
by Jim Crabtree, RN, BSN, MICN, CEN, MICN
Domestic violence. It's never justified, it's never acceptable. By
definition, it includes such diverse situations as child or elder abuse and
neglect, as well as violence within marital situations. Spouse abuse was
once called "wife beating" and is generally expressed as an attack from a
man to a woman. It can be reversed in some situations, but approximately 95
percent of all spouse abuse is directed at a woman from a man.

>> Diverting EMS
by Tonya Schafer
He had already experienced the trauma of a frantic ambulance ride to the
hospital. Now the ailing Albuquerque man found himself struggling to accept
the fact that the overcrowded ED where he had been delivered would not admit
him. Frustrated, disbelieving, and more than a little angry, he decided to
take matters into his own hands.

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Medic Life
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>> Hepatitis C: What Administrators and Providers Need to Know
by Katherine West, BSN, MSEd
In the grand scheme of things, hepatitis C (HCV) hasn't been a known enemy
for all that many years. The virus was first identified as a separate and
distinct virus in 1988-1989. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), the peak number of cases appears to have occurred in
or about 1980 (as estimated by looking at non-A and non-B strains of
hepatitis), and numbers have been declining since then.


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Educators Corner
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>> Opportunity to Respond
by John Mateus
I squirmed in my seat a little. While attending a really good course on
Incident Command System (ICS), I found myself fidgety. The instructor was
putting on a fairly good show, and although I enjoyed the presentation and
the topic, I was still feeling unsatisfied. By the sixth hour of the
program, I felt like I had heard a lot but learned little. I felt as if I
had had no opportunity to respond.

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Columns
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>> Law Bytes: Conduct Unbecoming a Member — Handling Volunteer Discipline
Effectively
by Doug Wolfberg
Many volunteer and nonprofit organizations have bylaws that contain various
provisions dealing with the discipline of their members. Although
infractions can lead to varying forms of discipline, there is a common basis
for disciplinary action in many of these bylaws: "conduct unbecoming a
member."

>> Managing the Unforeseen: Three Rules for Controlling Imminent Crises
by Brian Farnsworth
Much has been made of the recent 9-1-1 incident involving the death of Karla
Gutiérrez in her sinking vehicle. Did the dispatchers act appropriately?
Could more have been done? Would more intervention on the part of the
dispatchers have made a difference in the eventual outcome?

>> Patient Surveys
by Don Hunjadi
How do your patients feel about the care they received during their
transport or the time you spent with them at the scene? According to many
experts, a key ingredient to improving your quality of care is to find out
what your customers think — and the patient is your customer.

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Management Matters
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>> For Managers: Do Your Supervisors Pass The Test?
by John Becknell
I've always found that the best run EMS organizations — those with positive
provider morale and high quality patient care — have great field
supervisors. Unfortunately field supervision is one of the least recognized
areas of the EMS management structure.

>> For Managers: Count Me In!: 501 Ideas on Recruiting Volunteers
by Syd Canan
Attracting and keeping volunteers is a perpetual challenge for organizations
that rely on them. This is probably even truer for emergency care
organizations. In addition to asking people to give away their "free" time,
EMS asks people to risk big things. It's a risk to be "up close and
personal" with bodily fluids. It's a risk to engage with strangers in their
moments of greatest fear and anger. It's a risk to spend all that time in
school to use important knowledge relatively infrequently.

More online!

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fun to the all in EMS, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medicine. Updated daily.
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