NEWS IN BRIEF
Status of IMS-related legislation
Several pieces of legislation related to emergency medical services have been pending in Congress. Following is a list of these hills and their status as of press time.
- Public Law 101-590 (approved November 16, 1990). Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1990. (Incorporates H.R.1602 and S. 15.) To amend the Public Health Service Act to improve emergency medical services and trauma care, and to provide financial assistance for research and demonstration projects to improve the availability and quality of emergency medical services in rural areas.
This legislation makes available grant programs to public and nonprofit private entities for research and demonstration projects and to states tor developing, implementing, and monitoring modifications to the trauma care component of the state plan for providing KMS. At press time, a notice of availability of hinds was to have been published in the Federal Register. According to Public Law 101-590, “For the purpose of earn ing out this title, there are authorized to be appropriated $60,000,000 for fiscal year 1991 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 1992 and 1993 ”
- H R. 1656. Trauma Center Revitalization Act (Waxman, D-CA). Amends the Public Health Services Act with regard to providing financial
- assistance for certain trauma centers operating in geographic areas with significant incidence of violence related to drug abuse.
Introduced March 22, 1991; referred to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.
- H.R.2234. Rural Medical Emergencies Air Transport Act of 1991. To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grants for the creation or enhancement of systems for the air transport of rural victims of medical emergencies, and for other purposes.
Introduced on May 7, 1991 (Roberts, R-KS). Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
S.480. Introduced February 26 (legislative day, February’6), 1991 (Kassebaum, R-KS). Referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
- H.R.2517. Trauma Research Act of 1991 (Markey, D MA). To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an interagency program for trauma research. Introduced June 3, 1991.
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.
- H R.4256. The Emergency Medical Services Amendments Act of 1992 (Gunderson, R-WI). This legislation proposed several amendments to the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act of 1990, including establishing a federal EMS office within the Department of Health and Human Services. It also would encourage
- establishing or enhancing state EMS offices through a three-year federal/ state matching grant program and developing a demonstration telecommunications program that would enable patients and health professionals in rural communities to consult with medical specialists in larger health facilities regarding life-saving treatments.
As of May 13, 1992, the latest status report on this proposed legislation, obtained from a staff member in Rep. Gunderson’s office, is that it had not been acted on in committee and that it would be incorporated into another bill related to health care for farm families, which “probably would be introduced within two to three weeks.”
- H.R.4785. The AIDS Prevention Act of 1990. Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
TDD/9-1-1 ADA requirements clarified
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which states that “telephone emergency services, including 9-1-1 services, shall provide direct access to individuals who use TDDs and computer modems,” does not mean that there must be access by every’ format that could be used by a modem, including those that are not compatible with equipment presently used by emergency service systems, according to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
“The regulation does not require telephone emergency systems to do anything that is technologically infeasible; accordingly, we are interpreting the requirement for access by computer modems to mean only when the modem is using the Baudot format,” explained Stewart B. Oneglia, chief, Coordination and Review Section of the Civil Rights Division.
Oneglia was responding to an inquiry sent to the DOJ by William E. Stanton, executive director of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA).
The Congressional Fire Services Caucus also addressed this issue in a letter to U.S. Attorney General William l Barr. The letter noted “that the lack of certain computer modem technology currently prevents emergency centers from answering incoming 9-1 -I calls placed from a TDD or a personal computer employing an ascii computer modem” and urged that the DOJ clarify the issue.
The DOJ’s “interpretive guidance” recently has been published in its “Technical Assistance Manual,” available from the Office of the Americans with Disabilities Act. P. O. Box 66738, Washington, DC 20035-9998, (202) 514-0301.
Additional information is available from Bill Stanton at NENA, (800) 3323911, or the Congressional Fire Services Institute, (202) 371-1277.
EMS infection-control guide
Guide to Developing and Managing an Emergency Service Infection Control Program,” published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s U.S. Fire Administration, contains a comprehensive approach to help fire, rescue, emergency medical service, and other emergency response agencies establish effective infectioncontrol programs.
Based on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) regulations pertaining to exposure to bloodborne disease-causing viruses, infection-control guidelines established by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and other national standards, the publication was prepared in conjunction with FEMA’s National Fire Academy course “Infection Control for Emergency Response Personnel: The Supervisor’s Role.”
A copy of the guide, Publication FA112, was sent to every fire department and emergency medical service in the country; additional copies are available at no cost from the USFA, P.O. Box 70274, Washington, DC 20024.
Concrete column fire resistance study underway
The National Fire Laboratory, the Portland Cement Association, and the Canadian Portland Cement Association have joined in a research study to develop and validate mathematical models for calculating the fire resistance of high-strength concrete columns. Data will be provided by six tests.
The researchers anticipate that using mathematical models instead of testing will save time and money when evaluating the fire resistance of the columns. The results of the project may be considered for incorporation into the National Building Code of Canada.
Office sprinklers finding favor in Houston
Some building owners in Houston, Texas, are retrofitting their office structures with sprinklers even though the sprinklers are mandatory only for new high-rise construction and commercial structures with basements that do not have openings to the outside, denying egress for firefighters during emergencies. The retrofitting requirement is part of a 1986 life safety ordinance. Oneand twofamily residential and single-story B2 occupancies without basements are exempt from the retrofitting requirements.
Builders are finding that the presence of sprinklers helps attract tenants; and builders, say high-rise consultants, consider sprinklers “a serious marketing advantage.”
Lower insurance rates is another incentive for building owners to install sprinklers, points out Sonny Evans, chief inspector in Houston’s Occupancy Inspection Section. Overall, Evans observes, “Building owners are more aware of life-safety problems, and they have a positive attitude toward correcting problems.” Some 15 percent of the owners have building engineers or other employees responsible for safety features, he adds.
A March 1991 amendment to the 1986 life-safety ordinance requires building owners to apply for inspections by the city. The inspections cover exits, fire alarms, vertical shafts, and other safety features, in addition to sprinklers. The Occupancy Inspection Department issues the initial certification for code compliance, Evans explains, and the fire department recertifies it through annual inspections. Seminars, conducted by Evans, and literature keep the real estate industry and other parties affected by the ordinances informed about the city’s code requirements and other relevant issues.
Miller new NFPA president
George D. Miller recently was named president and chief executive officer of the National Fire Protection Association.
He most recently was president of the Morris Animal Foundation, a $10 million endowment firm concerned with animal health research. From 1985 to 1987, he was executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Among his responsibilities was preparing athletes for the Olympics and the Pan-American Games. He retired with the rank of lieutenant general from the U.S. Air Force; he was a fighter pilot and the recipient of numerous awards, including the distinguished flying cross. Miller has a bachelor’s degree in science from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Miller takes charge of the NFPA at a time of transition for the 96-year-old organization. The previous president resigned last August at the request of the Board of Directors amid charges of fiscal mismanagement.
“NFPA’s compelling mission of creating a safer environment for all people is an honorable cause, one I am proud to serve,” says Miller, who assumed his duties in early April. He observes that thousands of people needlessly die from fires each year and that older adults and the very young are twice as likely to be victims of fire.
Research center has silver anniversary
Factory Mutual Research Corporation’s Fire Test Center celebrated its 25th anniversary on June 19. The facility, a unit of Factory Mutual Engineering and Research based in Norwood, Massachusetts, has been the site of numerous research and testing projects involving industrial fire protection and other loss-prevention equipment, materials, and services such as sprinklers, fire extinguishers, combustion safeguards, central station systems, equipment safeguards, building materials, and smoke detectors. These studies have yielded data that have helped reduce the risk of fire and its related damages.
The center’s rubber tire storage testing program, for example, demonstrated that the manner in which something is stored can be as crucial to fire protection as the products and materials stored. A test program conducted in the 1970s showed that aerosol cans can become rocketing fireballs only seconds after being exposed to flames and that adequate sprinkler protection and product segregation are needed when even small quantities of aerosols are stored.
The center also provides third-partv certification of products’ performance and safety, and the FMRC Approvals Program is recognized as a national testing laboratory by the Occupational Safety’ and Health Administration (OSHA).
