Upcoming Events
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MARCH 16
CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting,
Teleconference
MAY 3
CoAEMSP Webinar,
1 pm Central Time
(Topic & registration to be announced)
MAY 4
CoAEMSP Quarterly Board Meeting,
Teleconference
MAY 18
CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting,
Teleconference
JUNE 28-29
Accreditation Workshop:
Steps to Success,
Pittsburgh
JULY 18-19
CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting,
Las Vegas
AUGUST 3-4
CoAEMSP Quarterly Board Meeting,
Washington DC
AUGUST 7-8
Accreditation Workshop:
Steps to Success,
Orlando
SEPTEMBER 21
CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting,
Teleconference
NOVEMBER 2
CoAEMSP Quarterly Board Meeting,
Teleconference
NOVEMBER 16
CAAHEP Board of Directors Meeting,
Teleconference
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Getting Started:
An Action Plan for Tackling
the Accreditation Process
Often the hardest part of any project is organizing a plan to get started.
This comprehensive Action Plan breaks the activities into nine different phases and identifies the activity and associated resource, such as the location on the CoAEMSP website that will provide the necessary information. What could be simpler?
Access the complete Action Plan HERE.
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Highlights from CoAEMSP Board of Directors February Meeting
The CoAEMSP Board of Directors held its quarterly board meeting in San Antonio February 3-4, 2012. Highlights from the meeting include:
- Reviewing 62 programs for initial and continuing accreditation.
- Reporting that in 2011, there were 113 site visits conducted, of which 60 were for new programs. The 2012 schedule currently has 114 site visits scheduled, and the number is expected to significantly increase. On average, 5 to 10 programs are submitting their initial-accreditation self study reports (ISSR) each month!
- Convening a task force to examine distance education for paramedic programs. The task force will include representatives from, but not limited to, NASEMSO State Medical Directors and EMS Directors, CoAEMSP, CAAHEP, and NAEMSE. The task force goals will be to identify concerns and potential problems for DE for Paramedic programs.
- Approving interpretations to the CAAHEP Standards, including information required for student counseling documentation; the acceptable use of a classroom for lab and didactic; and what constitutes adequate validity and reliability on tests.
- Approving more tools for use by program directors, including keys to an appropriate response to the findings letter and submitting a progress report.
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Take Advantage of these Learning Opportunities
ACCREDITATION WORKSHOPS
Plan to attend one of these informative accreditation workshops. Details will be available soon.
June 28-29, Pittsburgh
August 6-7, Orlando at NAEMSE Annual Symposium
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WEBINAR
Responding to the Findings Letter & Submitting a Progress Report
Thursday, May 3 @ 1PM Central Time
Facilitators: Pat Tritt, RN, MA and George Hatch, EdD, LP, EMT-P
After digesting the contents and information requested in a Findings Letter or preparing a Progress Report, preparing an appropriate response is critical. Questions may be: What exactly are they asking for, what specifically do I need to submit, and how much detail is expected? Sometimes, in the effort to respond to the request for required information, programs actually send too much data that may not be concise or does not address the citation. This "information overload" can result in further delay in demonstrating satisfactorily meeting the requirement and the need to submit another progress report, or add an additional reporting period.
PAST WEBINARS AND SUPPORTING SLIDES
CoAEMSP Site Visits: Before, During & After
Learn the process for coordinating and hosting a CoAEMSP/CAAHEP site visit. You'll find out what to do to prepare, what to expect during the site visit, and what is expected after the site visit occurs.
Annual Reports & Resource Assessment
Medical Director Responsibilities
Preceptor Training
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SITE VISITOR WORKSHOP
During the NAEMSE Annual Symposium
CoAEMSP will offer a Site Visitor Workshop during the NAEMSE Annual Symposium in Orlando this August. This 4 hour pre-conference workshop, along with the three "Standard Interpretations" sessions on the program, will constitute a Site Visitor Training workshop. Attendees must be qualified as Site Visitors and approved through CoAEMSP. The pre-conference session will cover the process for conducting a site visit, the questions and methods for the visit, the schedule to be used and the report that must be completed. (Interpretation sessions during the conference will go over Standards interpretation for each section of standards.) Additionally, responsibilities to the CoA will also be discussed.
To apply to become a site visitor complete and submit the Site Visitor application found here, along with 2 letters of recommendation and a current CV to [email protected]. In addition, successfully pass the CAAHEP Site Visitor quiz found here. If your application is accepted, you will be registered for the Site Visitor Workshop. The CoAEMSP will notify you within 14 days of receipt of the completed application packet. The schedule for the Site Visitor Workshop and the Interpretations of the CAAHEP Standards is:
Tuesday, August 7, 1-5 pm, Site Visitor Workshop
Wednesday, August 8, 2:45-3:45pm,
Interpretations of CAAHEP Standards, Part I*
Thursday, August 9, 12:30-1:30pm,
Interpretations of CAAHEP Standards, Part III*
Thursday, August 9, 4:45-5:45pm,
Interpretations of CAAHEP Standards, Part II*
*The Site Visitor Workshop is reserved for those approved. Last date to submit the application and be considered for the Site Visitor Workshop is July 1. The Interpretations of the CAAHEP Standards is open to all attendees. Register with NAEMSE for the Interpretations sessions here.
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Bachelor's Degree Variance
An accredited program that has had a fully qualified program director, which then has a vacancy in that position, is eligible to fill the position on a temporary basis for up to one year, as long as the temporary person meets the one qualification of the Standards and Guidelines, section III.B.1.b. This qualification calls for the temporary person to have appropriate medical or allied health education, training, and experience.
Currently, an applicant program must have a fully qualified program director (including possession of a Bachelor's degree) in order to be issued a Letter of Review (LoR).
In the interest of facilitating the entry of applicant programs into the accreditation system and providing an accommodation parallel to the temporary program director provision, the CoAEMSP Board recently approved the following new policy:
A Letter of Review may be issued with an expiration date of January 1, 2014, if the program director meets all the qualifications [Standard III.B.1.b.2) thru 5)], except that s/he does not meet the Bachelor's degree requirement [Standard III.B.1.b.1)], and the program meets the sponsorship requirement and has a qualified medical director. (All other conditions of the LoR must be met.)
This exception will not allow the program to proceed to the site visit.
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Checklist for Program Directors
Are you a program director or a dean of a Paramedic program? Ever wonder what the responsibilities of the program director are to the CoAEMSP each year?
Keeping track of progress reports, annual reports, annual fees, etc. requires organization! To help you maintain some sanity and meet your deadlines with CoAEMSP, a checklist was created for program directors. Originally created for new program directors, everyone will find the tool useful.
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Couldn't Make the "Letter of Review" Webinar? Access it Now!
In case you missed it, the webinar "CoAEMSP: Letter of Review" that was held earlier this month is now available here.
Here's what the webinar includes:
- Describes the Letter of Review (LoR) process
- States the fees associated with the LoR process
- States the special provision for program directors without a Bachelor's degree (programs seeking an LoR only)
- Describes the role of the Executive Analysis (EA)
- Discusses the required post-LoR events
- Describes when the LoR program will host a site visit
ACCESS THE WEBINAR NOW |
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Update: Letter of Review
The Letter of Review (LoR) is designed to help protect the student's educational future and the educator's program. Programs currently accredited are listed at www.caahep.org and soon a link to programs that DO hold a LoR will be available. When the link is live, the announcement will be made via an e-blast.
The LoR attests that a particular Paramedic educational program is "in process" of becoming accredited. As long as a program possesses the LoR at any time during a student's enrollment, its students are eligible to take the NREMT Paramedic National Certification exam. In order to receive the LoR, a program must submit a self study report along with all the requisite fees and materials. The self study report is reviewed to ensure that the core information is complete and appears to meet the CAAHEP Standards. If so, the LoR is issued; if not, the self study report is rejected, and the LoR is not issued. Possession of a LoR does not guarantee accreditation.
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Meet Board Member
SABINA BRAITHWAITE, MD, MPH
Sabina is Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas; and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, Wichita, Kansas.
She has been recognized for her work in legislative activity on behalf of EMS, receiving the Citizen Legislator Award in 2003 and 2007. Among other legislative work, Sabina's efforts on the EMS funding project "$4-for-Life" doubled EMS funding for Virginia in 2002. Other honors and awards include Outstanding EMS Physician, Thomas Jefferson EMS Council in 2004 and 2007.
Sabina has served on numerous state, national and international committees and councils. Currently, Sabina is Chair for International Trauma Life Support (formerly Basic Trauma Life Support International). She has been appointed to the American College of Emergency Physicians, EMS Committee, since 2005. Sabina is also the Chair of the Steering Committee for the National EMS Culture of Safety Strategy, a three-year project under cooperative agreement between the American College of Emergency Physicians, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, and EMS for Children.
Sabina has also published numerous peer-reviewed papers, books, book chapters, and abstracts. She has been invited to lecture at local, state and regional education conferences, most recently on DEA and EMS Physicians for an advanced medical director's course at the National Association of EMS Physicians conference; and in Kansas, at the Obstetrics Case Conference, and Psychiatric Emergencies Case Conference in 2011.
Serving as President of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians from 2006-2007, Sabina is currently EMS Committee Chair for the American College of Emergency Physicians. She has been a member of the National Association of EMS Physicians since 1991, among other professional organizations and associations.
Sabina received her MPH from the University of South Florida, and her MD from the Medical College of Virginia.
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Site Visitor Highlight:
Lauren Welch, MD, FACS, FACFM
Lauren has been Professor Emeritus, Surgery of University of Kansas School of Medicine since 2004; and Surgeon Emeritus at St. Catherine Hospital, Garden City, Kansas since 2001. He also was the Site Director for the Area Health Education Center, Kansas University Medical Center from 2005-2007. He was the EMS Medical Director for the EMS training program at Garden City Community College from 2005-2008.
Lauren began his career as a surgeon at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone in 1971, serving as Chief Resident of Surgery. Since then he has served as a surgeon, professor of surgery, Paramedic instructor, and ER physician.
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Meet Our Sponsors:
The International Association
of Fire Chiefs
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) consists of nearly 12,000 professionals including fire chiefs, chief officers, company officers and aspiring fire and emergency service leaders. They are the world's experts in firefighting, emergency medical services, terrorism response, hazardous materials spills, natural disasters, search and rescue, and public safety policy.
The IAFC was initiated in 1873, and provides the opportunity for fire-based professionals to exchange ideas, develop professionally and uncover the latest products and services available to first responders. The IAFC offers continuing education through professional development conferences, networking, eLearning, scholarships, and more.
The mission of the IAFC is to provide leadership to current and future career, volunteer, fire-rescue and EMS chiefs, chief fire officers, company officers and managers of emergency service organizations throughout the international community through vision, information, education, services and representation to enhance their professionalism and capabilities.
Through its strategic plan, the IAFC defines the organization's focus, produces position papers and serves its members.
Representing the IAFC on the CoAEMSP Board is David S. Becker, MA, EMT-P; and Paul A. Berlin, MS, NREMT-P.
VISIT THE IAFC WEBSITE
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Share Your Feedback and Suggestions
Is there something you would like us to cover in a future eUpdate? Let us know!
Jennifer Anderson Warwick, MA
[email protected]
CoAEMSP |
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