NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN WINTER 2017

PAGE �1

The Siren by Steve Borton

This winter’s Snowflake 5K run/walk on December 31—New Year’s Eve morning—was a smash hit, with 350 runners from near and far signing up and lining up to “run into the New Year.”

Jordan Wolff took the first male overall in a blistering 6 minute 2 second per mile pace. Stephanie Lasner was first female in a 6 minute 34 second mile pace. Jamie Kempton, coming off some injuries, won the first male master’s and Ilene Graff won the first female master’s prize. Our Rockland-Westchester New York State Senator David Carlucci not only got the race started but jumped into the pack and came in an impressive 11th in his age category.

The National Anthem was beautifully sung by Gianna Alessi, a local Nyack up-and-coming recording artist. Her father and mother, Joe Alessi and Kathy Riffe, watched Gianna with pride and then Joe, who is the principal trombone player for the New York Philharmonic—and generally considered the best trombone player in the world—lined up at the start and ran like a deer. The kids were joined by Frosty the Snowman and a guest appearance from Santa and one of his Elves. The children easily beat these two characters in the Children’s Race. The course ran north on Midland from the Ambulance Corps and turned onto Birchwood Ave., then left (north) on North Broadway toward Nyack Beach State Park. In the shadow of Hook Mountain, the runners turned left to climb the only hill up Larchdale Avenue. They turned left once more to go south on Midland

Avenue, and back to the Ambulance Corps for some hot chocolate, bagels and

fun.

The proceeds from the race will help support the Nyack

Ambulance Youth Corps program, and some hardworking local charities:

Grace's Kitchen (at Grace Church, Nyack), The Soup Angels (First Reformed Church, Nyack), and the Adaptive Sports Program at Helen Hayes Hospital, part of their handicap activity rehabilitation program.

Sign up for next year’s Snowflake 5K (December 30), and see more pictures at www.snowflake5K.com.

More race-day pix on p. 6

SNOWFLAKE 5K Runs into the New Year and Everyone’s a Winner

“Great race today and thanks for the

extra bathrooms!”

“WHAT A FUN FAMILY EVENT!”

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN Winter 2017

PAGE �2

Noteworthy The cots in all three rigs have been outfitted

with new straps that meet current protocols for patient safety.

Please see page 7 for important information

on their proper use.———————

Welcome New Members:Gabriela Boedecker

Mercedes Hawthorne

Jennifer Hirsch

Spencer Patterson

Mariana Silva

———————

Anyone interested in working the Pearl River St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 19

please see Capt. Paul Morer.

Next GM meetingWednesday, March 9, 7:00 pm

Officer Contact Information

Rank Name Radio Cell # Email Duties------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Captain Paul Morer 1 917-817-1867 Paul.Morer@NyackEMS.orgLieutenant Ivan Guerra 2 845 304 0246 Ivan.Guerra@NyackEMS.org supplies

Lieutenant Jeremy Griffel 3 845 558 7103 jeremy.griffel@nyackEMS.org communications

Nyack Community Ambulance Corps 2016

Administration and Officers

President & Safety Officer - William McDowell Vice President - Administration - Steve Borton Vice President - Operations (Captain) - Paul Morer Secretary - Susan Hellauer Board Members at Large - Geraldine Dupiton Jeremy Griffel Training Officer- Willie White Lieutenants - 1st: Ivan Guerra 2nd: Jeremy Griffel Legal Counsel - Duncan Lee, esq. Medical Director -William Greenhut DO, MPH, FACEP Chaplain - Fr. Richard Gressle

General Membership Meeting second Wednesday of every month, 7:00 pm at the NCAC building.

Come and make your voice heard!

The Siren is the quarterly publication of Nyack Community Ambulance Corps 251 N. Midland Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960 Susan Hellauer, editor (Susan.Hellauer@NyackEMS.org)

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN Winter 2017

PAGE �3

Attention Members! General Membership Meetings are now

on Wednesday 7:00 pm

Thanks to all who responded to our Survey Monkey survey about preferences for meeting days and times. It looks like Wednesday was the big winner.

We’ll be keeping the meeting time at 7:00 pm at the corps building. Come by early to get first dibs on dinner.

Remember, GM meeting attendance is a basic qualification if you want to be nominated in November and run for office in the corp,

Requirements for being nominated to stand for office are:

• attendance at five (5) General Membership meetings in the past 12 months;

• active riding status as either a driver or EMT.

See DEA warning concerning the animal tranquilizer carfentanil, and related fentanyl compounds:

“A Dangerous New Factor in the U.S. Opioid Crisis”

on page 8 of this Siren.

From Training Officer Willie White

Hello Everyone:

We have a lot of new members who have joined our family and it would be helpful to me if our “Seasoned” members/paid staff would help these individuals around the ambulance corps with rig checks, restocking procedures and a tour around the ER. We are all here to help one another.

————————————

We are considering purchasing an EMS Gator Type Vehicle for community events and medical emergencies on the bike/hiking trails. These vehicles have the capability of transporting a crew of 2 and a patient secured on a stretcher I will be looking at a demo on Saturday 2/18/2017 and hoping to have a slide presentation at the next general membership meeting in March.

————————————

Our CME lecture class continues monthly every 3rd Tuesday at 7:30pm. Everyone is invited to attend. Suggestions for any topics are welcomed.

————————————

Driver’s training will begin in early spring. I will post a notice for the next CEVO class.

B-well

Willie

Training Officer

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN WINTER 2017

PAGE �4

Captain’s Report - February 2017 Paul Morer, EMT-P, NAEMD

2016 Stats:

Total Call volume: 1848 up by 15.8% • ALS 516 (30.7%) • BLS 1160 (69.2%)

Palisades Center jobs 263 (14.2%)

Transports to: • Nyack 1368 • GSH 76 • Westchester 10

Rigs:

• B1 is now in service, and fully integrated into the rotation. • B1 and B3 are gas engine, B2 is our only diesel engine. • New key tags are on all of the key rings now, with the fuel code engraved on the tag. • B2 is the only truck that still has a battery master switch, please REMEMBER to turn it off. • The sale of the old 24B1 is complete, and finalized.

Radios:

• Leave the VHF radio on, tuned to Nyack Tac and volume up. • The portable repeaters have been removed from the trucks. • There are now mobile UHF radios in each truck. You can monitor thruway for State Police and

Wrecker 1. • You may talk to Mall security for best access (Don't ask 201 for best access) or to hold an

elevator, etc.

PCR's:

• Please check for predefined locations before you put something into location name. • Every call at the mall should go in a Place of Business: Palisades Center Mall. (I’m finding

locations such as: Palisades Center Mall/Target, or Palisades Center Mall/ice rink. These are incorrect.

• If you think there is a predefined location that we need added, please let me know. • Every patient encounter has to have two sets of vitals signs. It is required by NYS.

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN Winter 2017

PAGE �5

CME and training opportunities in the area

Following are local training and CME opportunities. For more complete information, changes and additions, check the training board at the NCAC building frequently for postings of CMEs and required training for corps members.

You can also log on to www.hvremsco.org and click on CME for last minute changes and additions to area training. Also consult www.wremsco.org/ for Westchester area CMEs, training classes and conference notices.

If you know of any training opportunities that are not listed here, or on the training board, please bring them to the attention of training officer Willie White.

NOTE: CHECK THE TRAINING BOARD AT THE BUILDING FREQUENTLY FOR NEW TRAINING CLASSES.

DID YOU KNOW?

that the HVREMSCO TRAINING PAGEis where you can find all upcoming EMT original and refresher courses AND CME classes, along with contact information, available in the entire Hudson Valley Region, including Rockland County (excludes Westchester).

AND DID YOU KNOW?that there are numerous training opportunities in Westchester County.

Sign up to receive their EMS training emails. If there is space, you can register and attend classes for CME credit.

There will be an Emt refresher class starting March 2, 2017 @ Fire Training Center.

Class starts March 2 2017 (Thursday)Tues/Thursday evening 730pm-1030pm

Test Date Thursday May 18th, 2017CIC Brandon Smith

If interested, please see TO Willie White for application.

CME Calendar 01 /2017 to 12/2017. (Revised 12-29-2016)

Revised 12-29-2016

Date Day Time Location TOPIC 01-02-2017 Monday 1930 Blooming Grove Endocrine / Behavioral / Geriatrics 01-10-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River Toxicology / Neurology / Endocrine 01-12-2017 Thursday 1930 GLVAC TBA 01-16-2017 Monday 2000 Faist Airway, Respiratory, CPAP 01-17-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont Airway, Respiratory, CPAP 01-19-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC Airway, Respiratory, CPAP 01-31-2017 Tuesday 1930 Nyack Pt. Assessment Date Day Time Location Topic 02-08-2017 Wednesday 1930 Warwick TBA 02-14-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River Pt. Assessment 02-20-2017 Monday 2000 Faist Geriatrics / Shock 02-21-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont Toxicology / Neurology / Endocrine 02-23-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC Geriatrics / Geriatric trauma 02-28-2016 Tuesday 1930 Nyack Airway, Respiratory, CPAP Date Day Time Location Topic 03-06-2017 Monday 1900 BGVAC Ob / GYN / Neonatal / Spec needs 03-09-2017 Thursday 1930 GLVAC TBA 03-14-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River Fracture Mgmt 03-20-2017 Monday 2000 Faist Pt. Assessment 03-21-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont Geriatrics / Geriatric trauma 03-28-2017 Tuesday 1930 Nyack OB-GYN / Pediatrics / Special Needs. 03-30-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC Respiratory / Cardiac / Pharm Date Day Time Location Topic 04-04-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River Geriatrics, Shock *** 04-06-2017 Thursday 1930 Warwick Topic to be announced 04-19-2017 Monday 2000 Faist Medical legal / Preparatory ** 04-20-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont Pt. Assessment ** 04-25-2017 Tuesday 1930 Nyack Psych / Toxicology / Endocrine 04-27-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC Med legal, Airway. Date Day Time Location Topic 05-01-2017 Monday 1930 BGVAC Geriatrics / Pt. assessment 05-04-2017 Thursday 1930 GLVAC Topic pending 05-09-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River Airway Mgmt., Respiratory 05-15-2017 Monday 2000 Faist OB-GYN / Pediatrics / Special Needs 05-16-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont OB-GYN / Pediatrics / Special Needs 05-23-2017 Tuesday 1930 Nyack Med legal 05-25-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC Pt. Assessment Date Day Time Location Topic 06-13-2017 Tuesday 1930 Pearl River OB-GYN / Pediatrics / Special Needs 06-14-2017 Thursday 1930 Warwick TBA 06-19-2017 Monday 2000 Faist Trauma / Shock 06-20-2017 Tuesday 1930 Piermont Fracture Mgmt 06-27-2017 Tuesday 1930 Nyack Trauma / Shock 06-28-2017 Thursday 1930 SOAC OB-GYN / Pediatrics / Special Needs

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN WINTER 2017

PAGE �6

Continued from page 1

Counterclockwise from upper left: Sen. David Carlucci starts the race; and they’re off!; down Midland Avenue; first-place finisher Jordan Wolff.

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN WINTER 2017

PAGE �7

To all crews: Please see the message (right) from Pres. William McDowell regarding the cot straps. William has been very helpful to operations in overseeing this change in equipment. Proper use of the new strap system is mandatory, and there will be consequences to both crew members, paid or volunteer for failure to follow proper procedures. We simply cannot compromise patient safety. In the unlikely event that you are unable to utilize the shoulder straps (patient refuses, interferes with patient care) you need to document that in your PCR.  In the event of a patient refusal, you need to have the patient sign the RMA form as in the case of any patient refusing a treatment.  Proper documentation will protect you and us. I am happy to address any questions you may have.

————————-ALSO:

We have been finding the cot made up without a hospital blanket, or a wool blanket.  Every time you make the cot up, it must have a hospital blanket on it, and in these cold weather times it must have a wool blanket on it as well.

Capt. Paul Morer

All three cots have new straps. It’s a four strap system instead of the previous three.

Proper positions are over ankles, mid thigh, waist and crisscrossed shoulders over chest.Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with them. Please do not change their location on the cot. Its imperative—not your option—to use the shoulder restraints. Photo shows proper shoulder strap position. You will notice it comes through the space between torso pad and head pad. Thank you in advance for your compliance with this directive!

Pres. William McDowell

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN Winter 2017

PAGE �8

Link to full alert : https://www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2016/hq092216.shtml Carfentanil: A Dangerous New Factor in the U.S. Opioid Crisis

Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid approximately 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. The presence of carfentanil in illicit U.S. drug markets is cause for concern, as the relative strength of this drug could lead to an increase in overdoses and overdose-related deaths, even among opioid-tolerant users. The presence of carfentanil poses a significant threat to first responders and law enforcement personnel who may come in contact with this substance. In any situation where any fentanyl-related substance, such as carfentanil, might be present, law enforcement should carefully follow safety protocols to avoid accidental exposure.

Officer & Public Safety Information

Carfentanil and other fentanyl analogues present a serious risk to public safety, first responder, medical, treatment, and laboratory personnel. These substances can come in several forms, including powder, blotter paper, tablets, patch, and spray. Some forms can be absorbed through the skin or accidentally inhaled. If encountered, responding personnel should do the following based on the specific situation:

Exercise extreme caution. Only properly trained and outfitted law enforcement professionals should handle any substance suspected to contain fentanyl or a fentanyl-related compound. If encountered, contact the appropriate officials within your agency.

Be aware of any sign of exposure. Symptoms include: respiratory depression or arrest, drowsiness, disorientation, sedation, pinpoint pupils, and clammy skin. The onset of these symptoms usually occurs within minutes of exposure.

Seek IMMEDIATE medical attention. Carfentanil and other fentanyl-related substances can work very quickly, so in cases of suspected exposure, it is important to call EMS immediately. If inhaled, move the victim to fresh air. If ingested and the victim is conscious, wash out the victim’s eyes and mouth with cool water.

Be ready to administer naloxone in the event of exposure. Naloxone is an antidote for opioid overdose. Immediately administering naloxone can reverse an overdose of carfentanil, fentanyl, or other opioids, although multiple doses of naloxone may be required. Continue to administer a dose of naloxone every 2-3 minutes until the individual is breathing on his/her own for at least 15 minutes or until EMS arrives.

Remember that carfentanil can resemble powdered cocaine or heroin. If you suspect the presence of carfentanil or any synthetic opioid, do not take samples or otherwise disturb the substance, as this could lead to accidental exposure. Rather, secure the substance and follow approved transportation procedures.

Lethality:

Carfentanil is used as a tranquilizing agent for elephants and other large mammals. The lethal dose range for carfentanil in humans is unknown; however, carfentanil is approximately 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which can be lethal at the 2-milligram range (photograph), depending on route of administration and other factors.

For additional safety information, please use the resources below:

CDC Health Advisory (#CDCHAN-00384); http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00384.asp CDC Health Update (#CDCHAN-00395); http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00395.asp DEA Fentanyl Warning Video;https://www.dea.gov/video_clips/Fentanyl%20Roll%20Call%20Video.mp4

NYACK COMMUNITY AMBULANCE CORPS THE SIREN WINTER 2017

PAGE �9

Johnny Cakes 84 Main Street Nyack, NY 10% off eat-in or carry-out orders

Pet Nutrition Center 115 Route 59 Nanuet, NY 5% off pet food and supplies

Dapper Dog 37 Route 59 Nyack, NY 5% off pet food and supplies

Temptations 80 1/2 Main Street Nyack, NY 15% off all purchases

Turiello’s 76 Main Street, Nyack, NY 10% off eat-in or carry-out orders

Tarantella’s 128 Main Street Nyack, NY 10% off eat-in or carry-out orders

See full Participating Merchant List on the Bulletin Board

at the NCAC corps building

and for NEW Plum Benefits go to www.plumbenefits.com and use code NCAC845

Contact TO Willie White for more information.

Members Discounts!

We are compiling a list of local merchants who offer discounts to NCAC members. Merchants currently offering discounts are listed here, and on our website in the “Members” area.

Please ask the local merchants whom you patronize if they would be willing to offer a discount to their local EMS volunteers. We will list them in our newsletters, on our website, and encourage our members to do business with them.

Supporting our local merchants will also help keep Nyack (and the other river villages) from turning into chain store wastelands.

Charlie’s Cleaners, 10% off dry cleaning 2 S. Highland Ave (9W) Nyack, NY Account Name: Nyack Community Ambulance Corps