Fall 2009 Conference Report

Our Fall 2009 Conference is in the 2nd full day and it has been a great success. Conference presentations have focused on ways instructors can encourage a mix of the old and new in the EMS classroom.

We have started to publish the presentations on the members only section of our web site and most of the presentations from Friday and Saturday and now available for download. Check back here soon for additional updates and a final conference review.

Please check out the presentation files in the members area of the web site and we will have all files posted sometime tomorrow afternoon. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this or future conferences.

Practical CE Approval Process

If you attended the Spring conference you heard during the MDCH EMS report that the State is going to make some changes regarding the requirements for application of continuing education practical credits. If you did not attend, you may still have heard about these changes as word does spread fast in the EMS education world. The changes will impact the way you apply for practical continuing education credits by requiring additional information such as the student instructor ratio and other information.
Since the conference, the SMEMSIC Board of Directors has been in contact with MDCH representatives and expressed member concerns that were expressed at the general membership meeting at the conference. As a result of these discussions, MDCH has agreed to put any changes in the Practical CE approval requirements "on hold". So for the time being, the information presented at the MDCH EMS report will not be implemented and Practical CEs will be awarded as they have in the past until the new Practical CE approval process has been reviewed.
The SMEMSIC Executive Committee, and other board members who are able to attend, will have a meeting with MDCH representatives to discuss the issues and concerns raised at the general membership meeting. The MDCH representatives were very responsive to our concerns and suggested a meeting to review the issue relating to these proposed changes in the practical approval requirements. As of this writing, a tentative date of March 27 has been set for the meeting with the SMEMSIC executive board and MDCH in Lansing. We will update or members through our member newsletters and members only news blogs.

Spring 2009 Conference a Great Success

The just completed 60th Professional Development Conference was the most highly attended conference in our organizations history. 206 attendees were registered for the conference which was held at the Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City.

If you attended the conference and did not fill out your conference evaluation/survey on site, we encourage you to complete it online as your input is important to us as we plan future conferences. You may Click Here to go to the survey. You must be a SMEMSIC member to complete the survey and you will need to log in with your user name and password. The survey will only take a few minutes and will be important to us as we plan future conferences.

Many of the presenters at the conference, including the national speakers, provided their presentations to us for our members. We have posted all of the files that were provided to us on our members section of our web site. If you are interested in downloading a copy of any of the presentations, please Click Here to go to our conference files section of our members area. You will need to log in with your user name and password to access the files.

If you are not a member you can gain access to the files by signing up for membership. Please Click Here to fill out a membership application. We thank all of you who attended the conference and we look forward to serving you at future conferences.

SMEMSIC Board of Directors Election

The ballot for the Spring 2009 Board of Directors elections is available online in the members section of our web site. We encourage all members to cast their ballot online as soon as possible. Ballots will be accepted until February 20, 2009 and the results will be announced at the general membership meeting at our 60th Professional Development Conference in March. If you are not a member of SMEMSIC, you can sign up for membership by going to our main web page using the link to the right and then clicking on the renew membership link. Please be sure to renew your membership for 2009 and then vote as every members vote is important.

SMEMSIC Launches New Members Area

The Society of Michigan EMS Instructor Coordinators has opened the new members area as of November 23, 2008. This has been a project we have been working on for over a year and have finally completed the conversion and ISP updates to allow for the new area. Members are now able to access their membership information online and update or change there information and subscriptions directly online. Once members have renewed their membership for 2009 online, they will have access to the new system with all of the updated features. We are asking all members to renew online even if your or your company intends to send a check for membership payment. You may pay with a credit card for membership online but you can also select manual payment after completing the online application. You will then be emailed an invoice that you can print and send with your personal or company check for membership renewal. The system is up and running now so you do not need to wait to receive your paper members renewal reminder by US mail to renew. In fact we encourage you to renew now so that you can check out the new members area. Along with the new members area, we have updated the SMEMSIC discussion forums and integrated the forums with the members area so that you will no longer need separate user names and passwords. You may access the new forums by clicking on the link to the right of this page. You may read posts in the forums but you can only post comments or reply if you have registered online as a member. You must registered and choose a new password for the new members section as your old password will no longer work. Please let us know any comments or suggestions you have as you explore the new members area. You may click here or go to the home page and click on the members only link to go to the new members home page.

SMEMSIC Position Paper Ballot

SMEMSIC has developed a second draft of the Society’s statement on the national standards, testing and accreditation issues. This draft was generated following lively discussion at the general membership meeting held at our recent professional development conference. We are requesting your vote, yea or nay, with regard to the document. Asking the opinion of the entire membership will afford us a clear understanding of your opinions and provide support to what we convey to others. Please click here to download and view the introduction letter and the position statement in a PDF format. A paper ballot is also included with the PDF packet that you can fill out and mail to us. There is also a survey in the packet that we would encourage you to fill out so that we have a better understanding of our members position on these matters. After reviewing the documents in the PDF file, you may complete your ballot and survey on-line by clicking here. We encourage you to complete the survey and ballot online but you may also mail it to us. You will also be receiving the packet by US mail and may complete the ballot included in your mail packet and return it by mail. This request for your response is very time sensitive. We appreciate your immediate response either via e-mail or regular mail. We must receive your input by 11/7/08 so that we can accurately represent the feelings of the membership at the November 14th meeting of the EMSCC. You must be a member in good standing of SMEMSIC to vote and you will need to put your name or membership number on the ballot. Your membership number will be located on the upper right corner of the mailing label in the packet you receive by mail. You may put your full name on the ballot if you do not have your membership number. We look forward to receiving your ballot and completed survey.

59th Conference M&E Worksheet Answers

As of this writing, we have 164 registered attendees for our 59th Professional Development Conference "A Lasting Value". This is the last full day of the conference which has focused on how to create a Lasing value in EMS education. Many of the attendees spent time in the exhibitor area visiting with the vendors and also completing the Measurement & Evaluation worksheets. Attendees who completed the sheets will receive one credit in the measurement and evaluation category for license renewal.

If you completed the worksheets and are interested in the correct answers, you may click here to download a presentation that will list the questions with the correct answers in bold. Please return to this news blog after the conference for an update on the 59th professional development conference.