Friendly Reminders

• Review the ** NEW ** Site Visitor Checklist. You have agreed to serve on a site visit team, so what next? To help answer the important question, a checklist was designed and intended to provide assistance for the newer site visitors and to jog the memory of the veterans. Remember that the site visit team is the face of CoAEMSP and CAAHEP and frequently the only face-to-face contact the program may have with the representatives. Proper planning and attention to detail can make all the difference in the program perception of the CAAHEP accreditation process.
  
  The tool, designed for YOU in mind, is available here. 

• Watch Archived Webinars available here.  The CoAEMSP is building its library of webinars, which now include:
  
  
  • Medical Director Responsibilities 
  • Preceptor Training 
  • Responding to Findings Letters and Submitting
    Progress Reports 
  • Letter of Review 
  • Site Visits - Before, During, and After   

In addition, the following webinars, intended for site visitors, are available here:

• Keeping Up with the Times [Changes to the SV process; revisions to the Site Visitor Manual, Relationship with the State EMS Office]  
• Interpretations I and the Site Visit Report [Sponsorship, Site Visit Report]  
• Interpretations II [Clerical Resources, Preceptors, Medical Director, Validity and Reliability]

Although a few of the webinars are intended for the program directors and deans, you will benefit from knowing what the CoAEMSP Board is requesting. This will assist you with conducting site visits and further educating the programs.

• Review the Interpretations
  The companion document, CoAEMSP Interpretations of the CAAHEP Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Educational Programs in the Emergency Medical Services Professions was adopted by CoAEMSP through policies. The interpretations are NOT part of the Standards and Guidelines document and are subject to change by CoAEMSP. Policy revisions may occur often, so this document should be reviewed frequently to ensure the most current version. Questions regarding the interpretations can be directed to the CoAEMSP Executive Office. The Interpretations are available here.   Stay tuned for more after the August CoAEMSP Board meeting!

• Travel Reminders 
  • Contact the Travel Agent. With the increase in airfare and the remoteness of many Paramedic programs, the need to contact the travel agent as soon as possible is becoming increasingly more important. Judy Rusk at Travel Leaders will work with the site visit team to coordinate travel with the same airport and reserve sleeping rooms at the same hotel. Ms. Rusk is the lead travel agent for our account; however, everyone at Travel Leaders is trained on the CoAEMSP protocols. Judy Rusk, Travel Leaders | 281-480-0111, ext 3116 | ruskj@travelleaders.com.                
  • Paying the Hotel Bill. Due to rules at many hotels, CoAEMSP can no longer pay for site visitors' lodging with its credit card. The hotels require additional steps to make that happen, and the cost has become prohibitive for the CoAEMSP and Program. As a result, you are asked to provide the travel agent with your credit card to reserve and guarantee the room for late arrival.  

CoAEMSP understands that the temporary cost to you may become a barrier for conducting site visits; therefore, you have the option of requesting an advance to cover the hotel expenses. If you let CoAEMSP staff (either Lynn or Jennifer) know as soon as the site visit is confirmed, then the check will arrive along with the per diem check. In addition, CoAEMSP is committed to writing you a check within two weeks of receiving your expense report.

The Role of the State EMS Office   

Interested in Becoming a Site Visitor Team Captain? Here's How... 

The path to become a team captain has been ambiguous. Recently, CoAEMSP codified the process, including identifying the application process, the qualifications, and the training required.

Qualifications

A CoAEMSP site visitor may be considered as a Team Captain when the individual has:

• served as a team member for a minimum of three (3) site visits within 18 months
• received positive feedback on the PSQs from the Program Director and Dean
• received positive feedback on the peer evaluations from their Team Captains
• a desire to serve as a Team Captain  

In addition, the individual: 

• must be a Program Director or a faculty person with a CAAEHP-accredited program [Medical Director qualifies as faculty]
• has been involved in writing a self study report and hosting a site visit
• participates during the Findings Letter review process
• has hosted a successful site visit to his/her own program [possible citations should not question the site visitor's knowledge of the CoAEMSP Interpretations or the CAAHEP Standards, i.e., lack of preceptor training, no graduate or employer surveys conducted, lack of Medical Director responsibilities, lack of program minimums for patient encounters, etc.]
• has viewed all of the site visitor and accreditation webinars and completed a post-test that covers them all
• has an excellent working knowledge of the CAAHEP Standards, interpretations, site visit process and resources; and 
• has excellent affective skills, especially in communication and professionalism

For consideration, the individual must be nominated by staff, another Team Captain, or nominate themselves. Upon nomination, the team member is notified and must:

• complete and submit the Site Visitor Team Captain Application available here;
• provide current CV 
• submit two (2) letters of recommendation from Team Captains they have served with 

Upon receipt of the application and letters of recommendation, CoAEMSP staff will:
   

1.  run the quality assurance reports, which include the peer evaluation and the PSQ;  

2.    work with the Site Visit Subcommittee to build consensus on the individual(s) to ramp up to Team Captain 

3.    if accepted, pair the TC Apprentice with an experienced TC who will serve as a mentor for the first site visit. The mentor may or may not conduct the site visit with the TC Apprentice.

Training  

Ideally, the mentor will conduct the site visit with the Team Captain Apprentice and serve as their resource. In instances where this is not possible, the new person will be paired with an experienced site visitor and the mentor will serve as a resource via email and telephone.

Before the Site Visit

• CoAEMSP staff and the TC Mentor will be available to the TC Apprentice via telephone and email
• TC Mentor will receive all of the same site visit material and emails as the SV Team from CoAEMSP  

During the Site Visit

• CoAEMSP staff and TC Mentor are available via telephone and email to answer questions

Following the Site Visit

• TC Mentor continues to receive the same emails, including the draft(s) of the Findings Letter
• TC Mentor debriefs with the TC Apprentice following the site visit
• CoAEMSP staff will debrief with the TC Mentor and the TC Apprentice either as a group or on a one-on-one basis depending on everyone's schedules

Your Expense Report:
New Email for Ruth Crump 

ruth.crump@whitleypenn.com 

Kudos! California EMS Educator of the Year: Linda V. Anderson, RN 

L to R: Dr. Howard Baker, Director of the EMS Authority; Linda Anderson; and Commission Chair Colleen Kuhn. Photo by Art Hsieh.

For 17 years, Linda Anderson has been the program director and chief instructor of the Santa Rosa Junior College's Paramedic program in Sebastopol. She also taught courses including First Responder, EMT, emergency nursing courses and a variety of continuing education courses.  She is a registered nurse with many years of experience as a flight nurse and in the emergency room. 

by Marie Gospodareck

No matter where we are or who we meet, we make a first impression. It is my hope that the impression our site visitors present is one of professionalism.   My first Team Captain was Dr. Dan Storer. He made quite an impression on me by the way he dressed and conducted himself. He made it very clear that a first impression not only reflects on us but also CoAEMSP and CAAHEP.

So... I thought it might be a good idea to review (what everyone already knows regarding) the conduct that is expected of all of us:

• If you are the Team Captain, reach out to the Program Director right away. The Program Director is anxious about the site visit; this will help alleviate some anxiety.

• Dress for success - Nice pants and sports coat/suit with tie for the men and nice suit or dress for women and, of course, appropriate shoes.

• Review all materials relating to the Program thoroughly. Be very familiar with the CAAHEP Standards.

• Plan your arrival so the team can get acquainted and review what areas need extra attention.

• Be prepared to give the Program your full attention. If you agree to be a Site Visitor, it is important to schedule your business/personal time so that it does not interfere with or interrupt the site visit.

• If you have friends living in the Program's town that you want to visit, plan to see them before or after the site visit. Stay in the same hotel as your team member so that the final report can be completed by both.

• Do not volunteer information about or compare your Program. If specifically asked for direction, tell the Program Director that you will be happy to share information after the Site Visit Report has been completed.

• Try to keep the interviews as scheduled on the agenda. Some interviews do not require as much time, but others may. It is important to control the idle conversations so we can stay on the time schedule.

• Remember that the CAAHEP Standards are our guidelines and all required areas must be reviewed (visually check all required areas - labs, equipment, classrooms, offices, etc.) Visit as many clinical and field sites as time will allow in order to get adequate information.

• Plan your departure to allow enough time to complete the Exit Summation and then get to the airport. (If you live on the East coast and the visit is on the West coast, you may have to plan on an overnight stay).

The Programs go through quite an ordeal just getting the Self Study Report ready and their stress level is usually very high. We should do all we can to alleviate that stress to make the Site Visit as pleasant as possible.

As site visitors, we must all be consistent so that our reputations as well as those of CoAEMSP and CAAHEP are not jeopardized in any way.

Ms. Gospodareck has been a site visitor since 1986. She was program director for the Paramedic Program sponsored by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The CoAEMSP Executive Office has reviewed and approved all consortium agreements prior to confirming a site visit; however, your job as a site visitor is to validate that the program is in fact sponsored by a consortium and is operating in accordance with the provisions of the consortium agreement.  

To assist you with this, an addendum to the Site Visit Report is available. You may access the new form here.