Code News

It is hard to believe that the Emergency Nurse's Association (ENA) is celebrating our 30^th year as a professional organization. In the 1970's there was a movement toward nursing specialization and as a result many professional nursing organizations were formed to provide a process to network and focus on education related to specific practice settings such as critical care, operating room and emergency to name a few. ENA as an organization continues to thrive and provide members with multiple resources to improve our nursing practice today. The most cherished resources that I have are colleagues such as you. Expert practitioners with whom I am able to discuss current practice or professional issues related to emergency nursing.

If you are not able to come to Chicago, I would like you to consider attending our next ENA state meeting, 12 noon, on July 26^th at Mountain Jack's located just off I-465 and W. 38^th St. in Indianapolis. Jean Proehl, immediate past-president of national ENA, will be our guest and Ortho-glass will provide a product presentation. The meeting usually lasts until 3:30-4:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

If you are reading this newsletter, I know that you are an ENA member or have a colleague who is a member and has shared this communication tool with you. The value of your membership in any organization is not always immediately tangible but is usually directly related to the amount of time that you give as a member. I would like to encourage you to start by attending your local meetings or the state meeting. If you are already attending, please continue and encourage other peers to visit a meeting to see what our organization is about.

Indiana now has a local chapter of the IAFN. We meet in Indy at Community Hospital North, every other month on the last Tuesday at 1800. If anyone is interested in attending please feel free to contact Pam Jahnke by email PJahnkeRN@aol.com or by phone 317-849-8773.

SAVE THESE DATES....IAFN's 8th Annual Scientific Assembly will be held October 12-16, 2000 at the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Tentative Keynote Speakers include Dr. John Butt on the SwissAir Flight 111 Tragedy; Ross MacInnes on Child Prostitution; and Dr. Tom Mason on Forensic Psychiatric Nursing. You can get more information on the IAFN web site at www.forensicnurse.org OR by sending an e-mail to IAFN@ajj.com OR by calling the home office of IAFN at 1-856-256-2425.

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2,000 sq. foot house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year-old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a superman cape. It is strong enough, however, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20X20 foot room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using the ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'Uh-oh', it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year-old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year-old man says they can only do it in the movies. A magnifying glass can start a fire even on an overcast day.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a four-year-old.

11. Play Dough and Microwave should never be used in the same sentence.

12. Super glue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on. Plastic toys do not like ovens.

20. The fire department in Austin has a 5 minute response time.

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earth worms dizzy. It will however make cats dizzy and cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

EMS Commission Meeting Notes

27 April 2000

Greetings from beautiful Batesville! Just off the road to Cincinnati, the historic Sherman House in this scenic town was the site of the April EMS Commission meeting (and free lunch, I might add!).

The EMS Commission continues to hold provider meetings throughout the state. These meetings provide opportunities for the local EMS provider to meet with members of the EMS Operations staff and Commission members to discuss matters of concern, rule changes, updates, etc. There was also a reminder of EMS Week being May 14-20.

There is now a draft of a rule statement regarding the transport of medical device dependent patients by EMTs and Advanced EMTs. This policy statement is supposed to be available through the state register, but I must admit that I cannot find that statement at the EMS Commission web site. I'll keep looking and report back! This is an issue that was first raised by Jackie Richey, and certainly should be of interest to us as we prepare patients for transport out of our facilities.

Other EMS "Rules" that are in process now cover the issues of out-of-state transport units within Indiana. Essentially, it will be okay for out-of-state providers to transport a patient in and out of the state for a procedural type visit and to transport any patients into Indiana for treatment. Outbound transport by out-of-state providers will not be allowed as a rule.

An active project within the EMS community is called "Project Safe-T" which has undertaken the task of providing a statewide communication network with which all emergency/public service agencies could communicate. All too often we find that the local agencies can not talk (via radio) with the county or state personnel, and the hospitals can't communicate with non-EMS personnel, even though those types of communication would be very beneficial to the emergency medical care being provided. The project is receiving some funding currently, but is need of much more money.

For our EMS providers, the state is near completion in its efforts to select and implement a new reporting software program. The bid should be awarded shortly, and distribution and training should start taking place in June. The previous EMS reporting software was not Y2K compliant.

The EMS Education Committee is working on clarifying the Audit & Review section of the required EMS continuing education hours. This has been discussed at previous meetings and centers around what kind of activity/training would fulfill this requirement. The committee seems to be leaning to a very broad definition, one that would include the areas of QA and CQI as well as case assessment or other alternate continuing education in-services that would be approved by the local training directors.

In legislative issues, it was reported that a Police/EMS representative would be added to the EMS Commission. Also a bill has been passed that allows EMS providers to assume custody of an abandoned infant without penalty to the parent. This becomes effective July 1,2000.

There is an ongoing, though limited, study of the use of out-of-hospital defibrillators. So far the results don't show much improvement in patient outcome, but it is still early. There may be significant differences in results when factoring in elements of communication, timing of dispatch, and arrival times. There will be more news on this later.

The next EMS Commission meeting will be on Friday, June 23, in Bloomington. I'm planning on being there, and I hope to see some of our members there as well. If anyone wants to hitch a ride, I'll be coming in from the northwest corner and would be more than happy to take on passengers.

Stay well,

Indiana has selected nine delegates and two alternates to represent our state. The delegates were selected by a lottery system. Indiana had 387 members as of 5-1-00 ENA allows one representative per 50 members, and 2 alternates, plus the state president

Representing Indiana as delegates are Marijane Smallwood, Joie Bertram, Sandi Pavey , Ruth Slabach, Debbie Bair, Patty Sandor, Lori Buksar, Mike Seaver, and Larry Addison. Our alternate delegates are Terri Will and Merry Addison. The representatives are from Indy Roadrunners, Wabash Valley, Northwest, and Chapter X. The proposed resolutions for this session will be printed in an upcoming ENA Connection. Watch for the topics to be discussed by the delegates and contact them regarding how your chapter would like them to vote.

Next Newsletter deadline August 21, 2000