EMS Advisory Committee

The Cattaraugus County EMS Advisory Committee met for its bi-monthly meeting Monday and elected new officers. Cattaraugus County Public Health Director Dr. Kevin Watkins, M.D., has served as committee chairman for the last five years. New officers include myself as committee chairwoman; Bobby Kuhn as vice chairman; Todd Reisner as administrative secretary/treasurer; and Dan Parr and Dr. Henri Lamothe, M.D., were elected to the executive committee. Dr. Watkins has done a great job guiding the committee and I know I have some big shoes to fill. Moving forward we’ll work with EMS agencies to ensure we provide the best EMS care possible to Cattaraugus County residents. The EMS Advisory Committee will continue to look strategically at ways to enhance the coordination of EMS agencies and improve communication between EMS agencies, the county, hospitals and other first responders in Cattaraugus County. I want to thank Dr. Watkins for his five years of service as committee chairman and my fellow committee members for everthing they do to promote and enhance EMS services in Cattaraugus County.

Child Health and Safety

The Southern Tier Child Health and Safety Team (STCHST) met for its quarterly meeting last Friday. Agenda items included a proposed New York State Child Welfare Practice Model and the state’s desire that child fatality review teams align with the new model. The state also wants to improve data collection and identify trends in cases of accidental and unexpected child deaths. To achieve those goals, the State Office of Children and Family Services will likely ask that teams not only review child deaths when the child is in the care or custody of a state agency, as now required by Social Service Law, but also all cases of unexplained and unexpected child deaths. Across the country momentum is gathering toward a consensus that all child fatalities should be reviewed in an effort to reduce or stop preventable child deaths. The federal Commission to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect Fatalities is holding fact-finding public meetings around the country right now. The commission will eventually develop national best-practice standards to protect children. I’ll keep you up-to-date as these proposals develop.