CESSA - Region 4 Committee Meeting Approved Minutes 03/19/2024

Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) Region 4 Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes- Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 10:00-11:30 via Zoom

Meeting Minutes - Approved by Members 06/18/2024

  • Welcome & Call to Order
    • Call meeting to Order by Julie Brugger (Co-Chair) at 10:09 am
  • Attendees
    • Julie Brugger, Deborah Humphrey, Jane Nesbit, Kelly Ann Jefferson, Layla Simons, Brittany Pinon-Becker, Cindy Wagner , James Hengehold, Randy Randolph, JoAnn Russell-Baum, John Nowak
  • Absent
    • Jeff Shafer, Breona Hawkins, Patrick Feldhake, Megan Black, Timothy McClain, Steven Johnson, Dave Fellows, Joe Harper, Erin Hazen
  • Guests:
    • State representative Brenda Hampton - UIC (HUB)
  • Open Meetings Act
    • Julie Brugger read and notified meeting is being recorded.
  • Approval of Minutes
    • February 20, 2024, Minutes - minutes were approved.
  • State Updates: Brenda Hampton- The House Bill 5377 will allow the sensor language to be modified so it will no longer say that the EMS Medical Director must be the Chair of the RAC. It will give latitude to another appointee to sit in that position. Lastly, there is going to be a Joint SAC and RAC meeting in May. The RAC Chair and Co-Chair would meet with SAC members to talk about the synergy; working towards understanding what RACs may need from SAC to help move the mission forward. Also, what is needed from RACs that SAC may need to hear for them to understand exactly what is going on at the regional level.
  • Updates on SAC Subcommittees: Julie Brugger- The Protocols and Standards Subcommittee reported that they have added questions to each of the PowerPhone protocols that address behavioral health crisis. There is a follow up meeting with Priority Dispatch later this month to discuss recommendations for protocol changes in the mental health and/or suicide protocols. They have been running scenarios of real-life Illinois cases through the Priority Dispatch protocols to make sure that those responses are meeting up with the acuity levels and the response type and time that are interim that Illinois risk level, Matrix suggests. They had their first meeting with the computer aided dispatch vendor called APCO and have begun an initial review of those protocols in the Technology and Data subcommittee. They are identifying the currently collected service data from 911, 988 and the Mobile Crisis Response Teams. They are developing recommendations for technical systems to facilitate or automate data collection and call transfers and those recommendations will be presented in June. This shows where they are at this point in working toward developing the operational procedures for communicating between 911 and 988 and between 988 and Mobile Crisis Response Teams. Training plans were sent to all the regional advisory committees for review. The feedback is due from all the regional advisory committees to the training subcommittee of the Statewide Advisory Committee and that is due on April 15th. We sent our feedback after we reviewed those back in February. Question areas that have been identified so far are if these trainings will they result in certifications? How often these trainings will be offered? Is this a one-time training or annual? Also, will there be cross training between 911, 988 and the MCRT? Additionally, what kind of training will be required for both police and EMS and fire telecommunicators?
  • Updates on RAC progress- Julie Brugger: Efforts are continuing to expand and continue to strengthen relationships between our 590, which is our Mobile Crisis Response Team and law enforcement. We have reached out to Collinsville, Fairview Heights, and Granite City Police, and to the Edwardsville and the Belleville PSAPs to ask if they have any community members whom they are concerned. MCRT would go out and check on these community members who may just need some added support or services and see what can be offered.  All of the PSAPs in our regional area utilize the Priority Dispatch for medical protocols. We want to look at identifying a pilot site to begin working with those new protocols as those new protocols begin to become known. As we look at identifying a pilot site that would be a PSAPs, who would be willing to try these out and see how the outcome. As we consider that, who should be included in that discussion? Representatives of the PSAPs of course would be included in that discussion, but who are the people that we should have as this begins in our region?
  • Deborah Humphrey- In strengthening our relationships, Alton has done a lot of work around this and bringing many people together. The Chief of Police have led it, they have brought in law enforcement, EMS, behavioral health, and mobile crisis.
  • Jane Nesbit- Michelle Sturm from Touchette Regional Hospital might be someone who would be truly knowledgeable and maybe offer valuable information to the group. Joe Harper and Mike Nichols might have some ideas. They might have some great suggestions about other people who could join the conversation because they are receiving some people, I believe from emergency transport that do not need hospitalization.
  • John Nowak- Touchette would be a great as well as our First Responders/EMR's and the Fire Chiefs Association.
  • Identifying RAC 4 Hyperlocal groups: Julie Brugger- to identify the local needs that may differ from other areas; recognizing that even across our region there may be different local areas that have unique needs or different availabilities. We need to make sure that in these hyperlocal planning groups everybody is represented and how best to utilize the resources that are available in order to serve our communities. Part of that planning happens here in our RAC and part of it will happen in these other meetings as we look at identifying a pilot site for the protocols. In moving forward, should we look at having different small groups, separate groups for different areas; the idea that there would be representatives from law enforcement from fire and EMS, from behavioral health, from advocates with lived experience and from our PSAPs in each of our different varied areas.
  • Deborah Humphrey- Yes. The needs of the more rural areas are going to look differently and the resources that they have available and the way they operate are different than an area that has multiple resources available to them. Trudy Bodenbach with Alton would be a good contact, she is currently organizing that work here. When we met, we decided more people needed to be added to the group; this will help self-identify. These are the core entities that need to be involved.
  • Julie Brugger- I will reach out to different leaders in those different areas, we have areas that are smaller and more rural, counties where there's not townships or cities that are that are quite as big to see what the needs are and who is responding currently. I can reach out to see if they would be willing to meet just as that group to make sure that the needs of their specific area are met.
  • Public Comment
    • Rachel L-As far as these protocols are concerned, I would suggest a beginning, middle and end approach, because with a lot of these situations, generally there is some sort of piece that seems to get skipped. From the PSAP's all the way to the EMR to those who would be transporting these people or connecting them with the services they need. I can tell you, working as transport, sometimes an important piece is often times lost; the ER is the only option we have, which is what we are trying to avoid if at all possible.
  • RAC 7 Zoom upcoming meeting dates:
  • April 23, 2024; 10:00 am-11:30 am- New date
  • May 21, 2024; 10:00 am-11:30 am
  • June 18, 2024; 10:00 am-11:30 am
  • Meeting was Adjourned at 10:59 AM by Jane Nesbit, seconded by John Nowack