2000-03-11 Charter Commission Minutes

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minutes 03-11-00Page 12 of 17 wondering whether, instead of saying fire protection and prevention and emergency rescue in Section 6-4.2, it would say emergency medical services. Did you give any consideration to that because rescue implies rescue? Our County fire rescue specialists, or MICTs and EMTs, do a lot more than actual rescue work. I mean, they do the gamut of healthcare. IRVINE: What section is that under? HOLSCHUH: 6-4.2 Statement of Policy, third line. I’m sorry. Yes. IRVINE: Okay, down at the very bottom of our page, 6-4.3. HOLSCHUH: It’s the Statement of Policy, ‘purpose of this chapter is to establish’, and so on. Basically, unless somebody in the Fire Department feels that it ought to say - RAY: This is lifted out of City and County. HOLSCHUH: Really? Well, they’re different. They’re different because - RAY: Okay, maybe you can submit that language change to us. HOLSCHUH: Okay, if that would be okay, I’ll send it in. Unless the Fire Department has an objection, it just seems to make more sense. RAY: No, no. We just lifted this totally out of City and County. HIGASHI: Fred, what was that change you proposed again? HOLSCHUH: Where it says, on what is in my document, the second line, ‘fire protection and prevention and emergency rescue’ I would change to emergency medical services, which is EMS. IRVINE: Let me ask. Way down below that it says, in Section 6-4.4 or 3, depending on which version you’re looking at, ‘(b) Train, equip, maintain and supervise a force of firefighting and emergency resource personnel.’ Is that okay? HOLSCHUH: You could just say emergency medical services personnel. IRVINE: Medical personnel there too. HOLSCHUH: EMS personnel. The State EMS Services, under the Department of Health, is in fact called EMS. It is EMSS, Emergency Medical Services System, and that’s what our County group is under. HERKES: Put emergency medical services and rescue? BESS: Yes, that’s what I would suggest, as well. HERKES: Because I like the rescue part. HOLSCHUH: Sure. Although it is implied in EMS, frankly. HERKES: Well, it’s implied but it’s not really spelled out. HOLSCHUH: But sure, that’s fine. Sure. And the public will understand. HIGASHI: One thing. The EMS is a contract with the State. The State actually provides the EMS services by contract with the County. So if that service is terminated, it shouldn’t be reflected in our Charter. It’s kind of an ongoing year to year deal that we do it on a contract basis, because in Oahu, they do it differently. file://\\coh01\cohweb\council\charter_commission\minutes\minutes 03-11-00.html7/1/2011