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News From The Front Line November 1, 2010

The MEDIC Dispatch

The 2010 Medic Health & Benefits Fair Recap

The 2010 Medic

Health & Benefits Fair

is officially history!

The two-day

extravaganza brought

over 35 different vendors, family-fun, cool prizes and most importantly information on the many

benefits available to Medic employees. What a success, with over 91% attendance and a total of

360 Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) completed!

Medic would like to thank all employees who participated in the 2010 Health & Benefits Fair.

Your participation made this, by far, the best Health & Benefits Fair ever! It is our sincere hope

that you walked away with valuable information on how to be healthy, live well and retire

strong. We would also like to thank everyone who participated in the Bone Marrow Drive as

promoted by Medic’s very own, Jose Rivera and the DKMS.

The 2010 Medic Health & Benefits Fair truly had something for everyone! Whether participating

in the Wii game tournament, decorating pumpkins, trick-or-treating, hula-hooping or getting a

flu shot, it was great to see so many children, family members and outstanding costumes.

Congratulations to the following raffle prizes drawing winners:

Sonya Marks— Fit & Healthy Cookbook Don Overcash—Lunch Box

Ken Murray—Large Cooler Bag Reza Jarrahizadeh—$25 Wal-mart Gift Card

Wes McIntyre— Lunch Box Shelley McAbee—$25 Restaurant Gift Card

Mali Green—$25 Wal-mart Gift Card Katherine Edgell—$15 Subway Gift Card

Pen Lee—$25 Target Gift Card Tom Porcelli—Soft Blanket

Chad Wilson—Soft Blanket Tanaya Jones—Picnic Basket

Taylor Gibson—Duck Kayla Hough—Binoculars

Cathy Jordan—Duck James Cunningham—Duck

Julio Gonzalez—Large Cooler Bag Chance Osborne—Large Cooler Bag

Scott Wilson—Grill Set Lakisha Lee—Grill Set

Lars Morch—Travel Blanket Mike Sherriff—Travel Blanket

Brett Testerman—Sweatshirt Buck Morgan—Sweatshirt

Lindsay Smith—Gym Bag Cory Colvin—Gym Bag

Thanks again to everyone for making the 2010 Medic Health & Benefits Fair such a success!

Turn to page 2 to check out the event photos. Also, be sure to pickup next week’s edition as

we announce the 25 winners of the cash gift cards!

This Week:

2010 Health &

Benefits Fair

Photos

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EMT Graduation 3

Open Enrollment

until Nov 19th! 4

November

InService 5

November

Birthdays 6

Aortic Balloon

Pump Transports 7

Training Schedule 8

Mecklenburg

EMS

Agency

Dates to

Remember:

Dates to

Remember:

November 8th

CPR Training @ CPCC

1800—2200

November 9th

InService

1800—2200

November 11th

InService

1200—1600

November 12th

InService

0800—1200

PALS Training @ CPCC

1300—1700

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—

2010 Health & Benefits Fair Photos

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October 11th marked the first meeting of the Medical Journal and ECG club! Turnout for the first club was good, but with

so much research to be done more people are needed to help us find some real nuggets that drive patient care.

During our first meeting, we reviewed two articles from the Journal of the American Medical Association and discussed the

components of a good research manuscript. The articles under review were: (1) Chest Compression–Only CPR by

Lay Rescuers and Survival From Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest and (2) Prediction of Critical Illness During

Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care. Both articles led to lively group discussions and gave Dr. Studnek great material for

education.

This month we are taking the show on the road to the Flying Saucer Draught Emporium! The club invites all

interested parties to come join us.

What: ECG puzzlers from 1:00—2:00 pm

Journal articles from 2:00—3:30 pm

Where: The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in the Back Room

(9506 North Tryon Street—University Area)

When: Thursday, November 18th at 1:00 pm

Why: To hang out with your peers and quench your thirst for knowledge

If interested in attending, please be sure to contact Mike Sherriff at mikes@medic911.com. We will need to get some vital

information to you beforehand!

Medical Journal and ECG Club

Congratulations to the newest EMT Academy

Class of 2010!

After six weeks of intensive training, this

latest group of EMTs successfully completed

their Academy course requirements last

Monday, October 25th. The entire Medic

family is proud of all your hard work and

accomplishments.

Please be sure to extend a warm

congratulations to the following EMT

Academy graduates: Shannon Deas, Frank

Doggett IV, Katherine Edgell, Brittany Harris,

David Hodnett, Nikki Hodnett, Brandon

Holland, Nicholas Howard, Cory Martinsen,

Lars Morch, Brandis Ridenhour, Casey Schmidt,

Michael Schmidt and David Thompson.

We are all very excited to have you as EMT members of the Medic family. Congratulations!

EMT Graduation

(from left to right): Back row—David Thompson, Lars Morch, Frank Doggett IV, Michael Schmidt, Brandon Holland, David Hodnett, Nicholas Howard, Cory Martinsen and Katherine Edgell. Front row—Shannon Deas, Casey Schmidt, Brandis Ridenhour, Brittany Harris and Nikki Hodnett.

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All Medic employees should have received Open Enrollment packets in the mail last week. You will not need to fill out

a form this year if you are keeping your coverage the same for medical, dental and vision. You will have to fill

out a form to renew your Flexible Spending Account for 2011.

What’s Staying the Same?

Premiums for active employees will not change if you take your Health

Risk Assessment. CIGNA will continue to administer our Medical and Dental

Plans.

What’s New?

Domestic Partner Benefits will be available for the same-gendered, domestic

partners of regular employees under the County’s medical, dental, life, vision

and voluntary benefit plans.

Specific documentation and verification of the domestic partnership is required.

Rates are computed as employee/spouse or employee/family.

All benefit premiums for domestic partners are post-tax.

This includes all County Benefits (Sick, FMLA, bereavement, etc.). Exception: Flexible Spending Account Fund does

not apply – This is a federal program.

Aflac is offering a one-time Group Critical Illness Policy to all Medic Employees. The policy is in addition to other

policies that you may have and will offer extra benefits and shorter waiting periods.

What’s Changing?

Healthcare Reform Changes:

No medical lifetime maximum

No pre-existing condition limitations for enrollees under 19 years old

Coverage for adult children up to age 26 for medical, dental, vision, life. Married, in or out of school, living anywhere.

Adult children with a different last name will need to verify relation (usually with a Birth Certificate)

100% coverage for preventive care

Flex Spending Accounts (FSA) can no longer be used for over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, unless prescribed by a

doctor

Medical Plan Changes:

Employees will see an increase in deductibles

Employee co-pays will also increase

Gastro bypass surgery will no longer be covered

Step Therapy for some prescription drugs

For more information about Open Enrollment 2011, please be sure to contact

Leigh Taibe at leight@medic911.com or via ext. 6086 or Linda Hendley at

lindah@medic911.com or via ext. 6083. Thank you.

Open Enrollment is Now until November 19th!

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Back in August, mold was discovered in the air conditioning

unit at Post 53.

Last week, Medic leadership proudly announced that the

work at Post 53 is NOW complete and the post can

NOW be utilized by our crews. The inspection showed

that the building is safe for crews to use. We really

appreciate it!

Medic would like to thank Gary Moore, Ted Wise and their

teams for all their hard work during this process.

If you have any questions about Post 53, please contact

your immediate supervisor. Thank you.

Post 53 is OFFICIALLY Open

Below are the InService dates for

the month of November. Please

be sure to register for one of the

following dates and times below.

All employees must be in uniform

and all sessions will be held in the

Medic Auditorium.

November 9th

1800—2200

November 11th

1200—1600

November 12th 0800—1200

November 15th 0800—1200

1800—2200

November 17th 1800—2200

If you have any questions or to register for the above

November InService dates, please be sure to contact Robin

Pariso in Medical Services at robinp@medic911.com.

Thank you.

FREE

Congratulations to CMED

Administrative Coordinator, Corinne

Walser, on the birth of her

handsome son, Benjamin Clark

Walser!

Little Benjamin was born on Monday,

September 6th (Labor Day) at

Carolinas Medical Center—Main

weighing in at 8 lbs, 3 oz. He joins

dad, Harrison Sr. and big brother, Harrison Jr.

Please be sure to extend Corinne a warm congratulations

on the recent birth of little Benjamin!

It’s a Boy!

This Sunday, November 7th, paramedic, Eric Walton and

Telecommunicator, Jennifer Strout will participate in the

Out of Darkness walk sponsored by the AFSP (American

Foundation for Suicide Prevention). Both Eric and Jennifer

will travel to West Palm Beach, FL in support of their

friend, the late Paul C. Garner, who passed earlier this year.

A fundraising goal of $2,000 has been set, so far $601 has

been collected to-date. Any donations are greatly

appreciated in support of this worthy cause.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is

a non-profit organization dedicated to understanding and

preventing suicide through research, education and

advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mood

disorders and those impacted by suicide. For more

information about the AFSP, please visit their website at

www.afsp.org

If you have any questions about the walk or would like to

make a donation, please contact Jennifer Strout at

jennifers2@medic911.com. Thank you.

Suicide Awareness Fundraiser November InService

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Where: Buckhead Saloon, 201 E. 5th Street (Downtown Charlotte)

When: Saturday, November 13th, 2010 from 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

What to expect: Buckhead will provide a meeting area, light snacks and drink specials. Age 21

and older please. This is a great opportunity for some of our newer employees to become better

acquainted with some of our “old timers.”

Retirees confirmed thus far are:

Effie Ledbetter, Scott Climer, Ken Railey, Cindy Rivera and Richard Dean

*Buckhead Saloon would like an approximate headcount to adequately staff for our event. Please be sure to RSVP to Jim

Lockard by TODAY, November 1st, 2010 in person, by telephone at 704.664.0344 (cell) or by e-mail at

JimL2@medic911.com if you plan to attend.*

*This event is not officially sponsored by Medic. It does not replace the Medic Service Award Reception in November.* Please contact

Jim Lockard if you have any questions about the November 13th Medic Retirement Celebration. Thank you.*

FREE

We would like to extend special birthday wishes to the following employees celebrating a birthday in the month of

November:

November Birthdays

Today is the Deadline to RSVP!

Kayla Hough November 3

Johnathon Bobbitt November 4

Richard Uhlich November 4

Andrew Bridges November 5

Andrew Smith November 5

Katie Phillips November 5

Hannah Kimbrell November 5

Cathy Jordan November 6

Julio Lizarazo November 7

Thomas Nagel November 7

Patrick Pariso November 10

Joseph Harris November 10

Maureen Townes November 11

Jason Willis November 13

Milan Merges November 13

Asa Rhinehart November 15

Ashley Barrier November 16

Ryan Lowe November 16

Robert Bivens November 17

Jason Crump November 17

Laura Dellinger November 18

Tanesha Johnson November 18

Shelley McAbee November 20

Ashley Cummings November 20

Sarah Walsh November 22

Chris Pipas November 23

Beth Rimmer November 24

William Walton November 27

Wes McIntyre November 27

Brendan Hutson November 29

Michael Stanford November 29

Jay Lyons November 30

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Medic would like to

thank the EMT and

Paramedic students

from Lenoir

Community College

in Kinston, NC for

visiting our facility

as part of a high–

level, informational

tour last Thursday,

October 28th.

The group of 11 students and three instructors traveled

over 4-hours to learn about the many ways in which Medic

sets itself apart as a leader in EMS.

Thank you to everyone involved who helped make this tour

a success!

Presbyterian Matthews has asked us to serve as back-up resource for the transport of patients on balloon pumps from

their facility to Presbyterian Hospital.

Presbyterian Critical Care Transport handles these primarily so the likelihood or frequency of such requests should be very

low. It is important that we understand the complexity of this mission and how to safely secure the 100+ pound pump in

the ambulance. Because the pump has approximately five feet of tubing between the machine and patients groin, the pump

and the stretcher have to be loaded virtually simultaneously. Hospital personnel will be on hand to assist you and will also

accompany the patient and manage their care during transport.

After meeting with CCT staff and loading the pump on a Medic unit, we’ve determined what we think is the most workable

and safe position for the device. The pump and control unit should be removed from its rolling cart base and placed on the

unit floor at the foot of the stretcher and against the bench seat. You can then place a seat belt through the handle on the

pump to assure it remains stationary throughout transport. Please see the images below.

 

 

Aortic Balloon Pump Transports

The pump & control unit should be removed from its rolling cart base and placed on the unit floor at the foot of the stretcher and against

the bench seat. You can then place a seat belt through the handle on the pump to assure it remains stationary throughout transport.

Control Unit Release Button Balloon Pump Transport Recommendations Seatbelt Through Handle

Pump in Position for Transport

Rolling Cart Release Handle

Access for Operator

Last Friday,

October 29th,

was a

monumental

morning for

Paramedic

Scott Climer

as he pulled

into the Bay Area at approximately 9:00 am for what was

his last shift. Several Medic employees were in attendance

to recognize Scott for his 30 years of service on the

front line. Congratulations Scott!

Best wishes to Scott and other retirees Effie Ledbetter,

Ken Railey, Cindy Rivera and Richard Dean in celebration

of your accomplishments and contributions to the

Agency. Thank you!

Medic Tour The Final Frontier

Lenoir Community College students and instructors with Medic’s Recruitment Specialist, Charvetta Ford-McGriff.

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November 2010 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 A

2 A 3 B 4 B

5 A

6 A

7 A 8 B

CPR Training

1800—2200

CPCC

9 B

InService

1800—2200

10 A 11 A

InService

1200—1600

12 B

InService

0800—1200

PALS Training @ CPCC

1300—1700

13 B

14 B 15 A

InService

0800—1200 & 1800—2200

16 A

17 B

InService

1800—2200

18 B

19 A

20 A

ACLS Training @ CPCC

0900—1300 & 1300—1700

21 A

PALS Training @ CPCC

0900—1300

22 B

23 B

24 A

25 A

26 B

27 B

28 B

29 A

30 A

Visit Us on the Web!

www.medic911.com

MEDIC Mecklenburg EMS Agency

4525 Statesville Road

Charlotte, NC 28269

Tel: 704-943-6000

Fax: 704-943-6001

In-Service

Training

Medic Events

Holidays

Recertification Testing

Medic Calendar 2010 Training Schedule

AHA Refresher Classes at CPCC

PALS

NOV - 12 = 1300-1700 **Pre-registration is

mandatory**

NOV - 21 = 0900-1300

ACLS

NOV - 20 = 0900-1300

NOV - 20 = 1300-1700 **Pre-registration is

mandatory**

Stay Tuned to the Medic Dispatch for any

future date announcements!

NC Scope of Practice Recertification

Testing

**YOU MUST RECERTIFY DURING YOUR TEST

MONTH**

ALL CON ED must be up to date at time of

testing.

To schedule a test appt date and time, email Robin Pariso

at robinp@medic911.com

DEC 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20 (Expiration Dates JAN – MAR

2011)

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL CLASSES. ALL AHA CLASSES HELD AT CPCC.