MERGINET.News, July 3 version now on-line!

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

We're pleased to bring you the latest additions to
MERGINET.News (July 2001 Vol. 6, No. 7).
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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What’s new at the oldest emergency care site on the Internet? Your worldwide
website for emergency responders has all sorts of new and interesting
articles and columns in the July 3, 2001, MERGINET.News release.

This issue contains an excellent report by regular feature writer Tonya
Schafer on MEDjet -- it’s how to get home if you or someone you know gets
sick or injured in a faraway place. And Alan Eade shares his experiences as
a volunteer paramedic in East Timor.

Be sure to check out Tom Scott’s discussion list for managers who are
battling the Health Care Finance Administration (HCFA) Medicare
reimbursement woes.

MERGINET columnists offer an array of interesting articles. Mike Taigman’s
book review makes us mindful of fast food. Valerie DeFrance launches a
two-part series on “problem children” -- those difficult students. Straight
Talk focuses on leadership. Harold Cohen looks at a study about
out-of-hospital cervical spine clearance. The “Management Matters” guru,
John Becknell, has something for administrators and operations folks. And
Vic & Vern invite you to their summertime jamboree.

Please come see what’s at MERGINET for you. As always, feel welcome to send
your comments, concerns, and compliments. We reply to everyone who writes.
Send email to publisher Richard Bilger at RBilger@MERGINET.com or me at
Kate@MERGINET.com -- be in touch!

Welcome to July, 2001!
Your editor, Kate Dernocoeur

New in this issue!

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Features
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>> Alan's Adventures in East Timor, Part One
by Alan Eade
In December 2000, Alan Eade left the relative comfort of Australian EMS,
where, in his local area of Melbourne, state-of-the-art training and
implementation of out-of-hospital care are the norm. For the next 11 weeks,
Alan volunteered his time and talents as a paramedic with the East Timor
Ambulance Service in Indonesia.

>> New Privacy Regulations Impact EMS
by Tom Scott
On December 28, 2000, the US Department of Health and Human Services
published the new standards for privacy of individually identifiable health
information*. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of
1996 (HIPAA) mandated the standard. As originally conceived by Congress,
HIPAA was intended to standardize electronic health data and protect the
privacy of the electronic information. However, the current rule goes beyond
protection of electronic data and applies to all patient information used by
health care providers. This will require significant changes for EMS
providers in how they handle patient information and establish procedures to
assure compliance with the law.

>> Airborne Patients
by Tonya Schafer
Accidents happen in the most inconvenient places. Just ask Bill Martin. The
Gainesville, Florida, dentist had been leading a dogsled and ski expedition
to the Arctic when he fell into a crevasse and injured his back. Far removed
from civilization, Martin seemed destined for a long wait for a flight home.
But the wait wasn't long, thanks to MEDJET Assistance.

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Medic Life
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>> STRAIGHT TALK: Who, Me? A Leader?
by Kate Dernocoeur
The medics arrived on the scene and sauntered over to what was obviously no
big deal of a wreck. On the way, one finished unwrapping a candy bar and
took a detour to put the wrapper in a garbage can. The other stopped to say
hello to an old friend from volunteer days and ask about the wife and kids.
Everything was calm, relaxed, and...

>> Vic and Vern's EMS Summer Boot Camp and Washboard Jamboree Revival
by Vic & Vern
Get out your calendars. Get one of those free pens you received from a
hospital trying to patronize you to bring them business (ya know, the pen
that's in the same shirt pocket as your Pediatric Referral Card that was
given to you by one of the marketing people from your local children's
hospital, your complimentary Trauma Score Reference Card distributed to you
by one of the regional trauma centers, and the free sunglasses you were
given by one of the local medevac services).


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Educators Corner
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>> Adult Learners, Problem Children, and Your Role as an Educator
by Valerie DeFrance
After the EMT Basic class had ended for the day, the instructor went out for
dinner and a few beers with one of the students. Then, for the life of him,
he couldn't understand why this student, whom he had befriended, suddenly
became a "problem child" in the classroom.

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Columns
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>> Studying a Study: C-spine Injuries
by Harold Cohen
The issue of field clearance of cervical spine injury or, more
appropriately, the waiver of spinal immobilization (restriction) procedures
has been a primary challenge for both EMS providers and EMS physicians. Many
patients appear to be unnecessarily treated with spinal immobilization based
on "mechanism of injury" or for safety's sake. Those opposing non-indicated
use of c-spine immobilization are concerned that these procedures are
usually painful, may cause further injury, could compromise breathing, and
lend to overcrowding of emergency departments.

>> Book Review: Fast Food Nation
by Mike Taigman
Fast food and EMS go together like Bill Clinton and Big Macs. Chances are,
half of the so-called food consumed each week by the EMTs and paramedics at
your service comes from someplace with a drive-through window. So when Eric
Schlosser's new book, Fast Food Nation, hit the stands I had to see if it
contained anything to offer folks in our profession. Grab your
Alka-Seltzer®. You're in for a wild read.

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Management Matters
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>> For Operations: Curtailing Emergency Driving Saves Money and Lives
by Lauren Simon Ostrow and John Becknell
In March, a Los Angeles Fire Department ladder truck driving with lights and
siren to an emergency hit a pickup in an intersection and killed its
70-year-old driver. This accident comes on the heels of a January decision
by a Staten Island, New York jury, which awarded nearly $11 million to the
family of a woman who was killed in a similar accident with an oncoming fire
truck in 1996...Sadly, crashes involving emergency vehicles en route to a
scene are not uncommon and take the lives of too many firefighters, EMS
workers, and civilians every year.

>> For Administrators: The Basics of Cost Accounting
by Lauren Simon Ostrow
Cost analysis has become a popular way to make decisions in health care in
recent years, thanks to efforts by managed care organizations to focus
attention not only on quality of care but also on the bottom line. Even in
fire-based EMS, chiefs must now be more accountable for the costs of their
operations.

More online!

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MERGINET.News Online!
Click here: http://www.MERGINET.com/index-news.htm

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MERGINET is a service designed to provide resources, news, education and
fun to the all in EMS, Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medicine. Updated daily.
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