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Please see the attached memo regarding the “COVID-19 Public Health Emergency EMS Cardiac Arrest Standards of Care” which has been rescinded by the New York State Commissioner of Health.
______________________ Ryan P. Greenberg, MBA, FACPE, NRP, EMD Director Bureau of Emergency Medical Services & Trauma Systems New York State Department of Health P: 518-402-0996 E: Ryan.Greenberg@health.ny.gov Click here to download the memo. After discussions with the NYS BEMS, the protocol that was released and disseminated a few days ago regarding cardiac arrest during COVID-19 was not intended to be released in the manor it was. After further discussions with the BEMS and the EMS medical directors in the region, the WREMAC have put forth the following statement.
We anticipate that the NYS guidance entitled, “The COVID-19 Public Health Emergencies EMS Cardiac Arrest Standard of Care,” will be modified by the state shortly. Agencies should notify their providers to delay implementation of this guidance until further notice. This standard was built as a crisis guideline. At the date of this memo, our EMS medical directors of the WREMAC do not feel we meet a community crisis standard. The WREMAC will issue new cardiac arrest guidance in the near future. Providers should continue managing cardiac arrest in accordance with the current NYS Collaborative Protocols and agency practices. We have requested that the WREMAC be granted the ability to activate this protocol in the future, should the need arise. We apologize for any confusion this has created in the interim. We will be putting forth additional guidance in the near future. Brian M. Walters, D.O., FACEP, FAAEM Please click here to download the WREMAC guidance document. Below are the new guidelines from Dr. Walters and Dr. Faulk for face coverings for Chautauqua County Fire & EMS Providers.
Chautauqua County COVID-19 Face Coverings for EMS/Firefighters PPE Flowchart for EMS The Bureau of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma Systems invites EMS Agency Leadership and EMS Providers for a direct conversation with the leadership of the Bureau regarding the current EMS system and our operational concerns.
Please encourage all interested EMS agency leaders and EMS providers to complete the online form to express interest in receiving an invitation to the meeting: https://apps.health.ny.gov/pubpal/builder/survey/ems-agency-leadership-and-ems-pr Any questions can be submitted through the current survey: https://apps.health.ny.gov/pubpal/builder/survey/nys-covid-19-response-ems-agency The NYS Bureau of EMS and Trauma Systems has implemented an EMS Certification Reinstatement Program for providers whose NYS certification is expired.
Below, please find the details pertaining to this program: For providers whose certification expiration date was September 1, 2019 through today:
NYS Department of Health Bureau of EMS and Trauma Systems has extended all provider expirations dates on their NYS EMT card. This includes CFR, EMT, AEMT, Critical Care, Paramedic providers. This extension also includes any providers who expired between September 1st, 2019 and today.
Certified Lab Instructors and Coordinators will also be extended. We do not have access to CLI and CIC extension dates, if you are going to expire soon, please contact Elizabeth Donnelly at DOH. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, NYS DOH will not be able to send new cards to all providers across the state prior to many of your expiration dates. If your card that you carry has expired, your card is expiring in the next 45 days or you need verification for your employer, please fill out this form to request a copy of your verification. If you have any questions, please let me know. New York State Department of Health Bureau of EMS and Trauma Systems has started a webinar series that will take place twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m. At this time, the webinars are offered free of charge. The first webinar will take place tonight, April 9, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. and will be an ALS seminar. To access the schedule of upcoming webinars, please go to VitalSignsAcademy.com and click on "Calendar" at the top. In the calendar you will see the different events and you will be able click on each individual event to register for the WebEx seminar. If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know.  The Schematron establishes the documentation standard implemented by all EMS agencies and ePCR software vendors for care provided by New York State EMS agencies. The Schematron is updated to adapt to a changing EMS system or current situations. The COVID-19 Schematron Update is designed to improve documentation standards during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
The 2020 COVID-19 Schematron Update is being implemented by ePCR software vendors and the Regional Elite Sites on Tuesday, April 07, 2020. Please click here to download a summary of the Schematron Updates being implemented. Questions on this Schematron update or suggestions for future updates may be submitted to the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services at https://apps.health.ny.gov/pubpal/builder/survey/epcr-schematron-implementation-i Please click here to download the document with this information. Chautauqua County has released an updated version of the COVID-19 FAQ's for Fire and EMS.
Please click here to download the document. Considering the fact that a large percentage of our EMS agencies Statewide are fire based including but not limited to non-transporting BLSFRs, I am forwarding this newly released guidance to share with local/regional fire and EMS.
Please distribute widely. Please click here to download the guidance. (4/3/2020) Please click here to download the revised guidance. (4/6/2020) Daniel J. Clayton, BS, EMT-P Chief, Operations Section Bureau of Emergency Medical Services New York State Department of Health 875 Central Avenue Albany, NY 12206 daniel.clayton@health.ny.gov | https://www.health.ny.gov/professionals/ems/ |
