 I hope everyone is having a wonderful relaxing summer. Another year for NYSVARA will be coming to an end with Pulse Check 2014 Educational Conference and Trade Show. It will be held September 11-14, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza in Suffern, NY. It is a time to reflect on the past year. To say it was busy would be an understatement especially on the legislative front. Together with our partners from the New York Ambulance Network (UNYAN), we were able to secure, for our services that bill, an additional $6 million in Medicaid funding. $3 million will be contributed by New York State and a matching $3 million from the Federal Government. This will be reflected in an increase in the payments our services receive from Medicaid. The second accomplishment is that together with our partners, we were able to prevent the passage of legislation that would have amended PHL Article 30 to permit any fire district who wished to start providing ambulance service to obtain a Certificate to Operate without having to demonstrate that there was a need for the service. The impact that this legislation would have had on the volunteer and not for profit EMS community, as well as the EMS system would have been catastrophic. We are confident that this issue will reappear in the upcoming legislative session and we will continue the fight. Also on the legislative front, at the end of this year, Assemblyman Bob Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst) in Suffolk County will be retiring from the New York State Assembly after 26 years of service to New York. I have had the great pleasure of working with Assemblyman Sweeney for more than 15 years. I first met him when he was the Chairman of the Assembly Sub Committee for Volunteer Emergency Services. There has not been a stronger advocate or staunch supporter of volunteer EMS. His support of changes to LOSAP, sponsoring legislation for the construction of the EMS Memorial, the introduction and passage of the Rear Facing Blue Lights for EMS vehicles are just a few issues he embraced on behalf of EMS. He always sought our opinion and listened carefully when issues that affected us came before him. On behalf of NYSVARA, I want to wish Bob a wonderful retirement and say THANK YOU! You will be missed. This year, in addition to electing the 2014-2015 officers of NYSVARA, the membership will be asked to consider amendments to our Constitution and By-Laws. For years, we have felt that they needed to be revised to correct inconsistencies, grammar and to make them more member friendly. The By-Law Committee and the Board of Directors spent a great deal of time beginning the process of making these changes. The proposed changes are posted on our web site along with the announcement of our Annual Meeting. I would like to ask that members review the changes and approve them. As I mentioned earlier, Pulse Check 2014 will be held September 11-14, 2014 at the Crowne Plaza in Suffern New York. Dr. Mike McEvoy and Rich Beebe have once again assembled a great group of speakers with topics that will appeal to everyone. Pulse Check 2014 begins Thursday with our Pre-Conference for both BLS and ALS providers. Thursday evening is our Annual Meeting that all members are invited to attend, Friday the seminars are held and our Exhibit Hall is open with vendors displaying the latest in equipment and technology. Friday night is our Drills Competition where both Youth Squads and Adult EMS teams from across the State compete against each other in very interesting situations. Saturday the seminars continue. The Exhibit Hall is also open. Saturday night is our Awards Banquet and Memorial Service. The Three Wise Men on Sunday morning concludes the weekend. I want to remind everyone that all of our seminars are approved for CME credit. I also want to advise everyone that rooms at the hotel are limited so if you have not, please register now. Please visit our website, www.nysvara.org for all the details. Lastly, I want to thank this year's Officers and Directors for their dedication. I also want to thank all the District Officers for their work. Most importantly, I want to thank the membership for your dedication and service to your community. You provide a tremendous service and make a huge difference in the lives of those you come in contact with. I hope to see you at Pulse Check 2014. Be safe!
Michael J. Mastrianni, Jr. President | 
