From the President
Neil L. Christen, MD, FACEP

The Alabama Statewide Trauma System is coming along thanks to all the work done by Dr. John Campbell, the State EMS Medical Director and ALACEP board member. Region 2, the East Alabama Region, is planned to go live next. We are hoping to accomplish this by the end of this year. The plan is to educate all the hospitals’ staff and the pre-hospital providers about the system and how to use it first.

A meeting was held on August 26 (attended by emergency physicians and other specialists) to decide how the physicians’ piece of the funding pie should be divided. When the funding for taking care of trauma patients is approved by the state legislature, we hope to have an equitable method in place to pay the treating physicians. We want to make certain that emergency physicians are at the table and that our voices are heard.

National ACEP sent surveys to the medical directors at randomly-selected hospital emergency departments. If you received one of these surveys about the workforce please take some time to answer it. If you have already filled out the questionnaire, then I thank you very much for your participation. It surely will give us very interesting and useful informational data about the emergency physician needs and how they are being met in our state and the whole country.

The chapter is well. We owe a lot of thanks to our long-term relationship with the ITLS organization. Recently, ALACEP helped ITLS produce a quality, demonstrative DVD to help instructors in every country show the BTLS assessment standard. Our chapter’s name is being shown all over the world on this DVD.  We should be proud of the product, our partnership with ITLS, our assistance with education, and our part in helping the world minimize trauma deaths. 

Chapter Update

Complete the ACEP Workforce Survey ASAP!
Deadline: September 30th
If you have not completed the ACEP Workforce study, then please do! ACEP has had a low response rate so far on the survey, particularly our state and region. The Workforce Study is critical to a data-supported understanding of the current EM workforce. The higher our response rate, the more credible our study will be and the more powerful our arguments will be when discussing EM workforce issues with legislators, government officials, regulatory agencies, and the media. Email dmckenzie@acep.org to obtain your unique hospital ID number for the survey.

ACEP Council Revises Fellowship Requirements
At the 2007 ACEP Council meeting, the fellowship requirements to attain “FACEP” status were revised. The Council added a new set of rules for those members who are not Board-certified in Emergency Medicine. The purpose was to honor those “legacy” emergency physicians who have made a long-lasting contribution to our specialty. And the new criteria reflect that. These new requirements for fellowship are more stringent but they do allow fellowship for those who have demonstrated a long-lasting contribution to our specialty. Click here to read more…

Alabama EM Practice News

Alabama EMS Protocols Updated for 2008
The State Emergency Medical Control Committee updated that statewide EMS protocols at their last meeting in June. There are some significant changes related to the Basic, Intermediate, and Paramedic protocols. Of particular note, aspirin will not longer be given in the pre-hospital setting for stroke patients. As stated from the protocol, “The 2007 stroke association guidelines suggest keeping patients NPO until their swallowing can be adequately tested. The guidelines also recommend aspirin only for ischemic stroke and then it can be given any time within 48 hours.”

ACEP Releases New Clinical Policies

If you haven’t read them yet, you should. There are new policies related to Adult Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Management of Acute Headache, and Pediatric Sedation. ACEP policies provide evidence-based approaches to common illnesses that present to the emergency department. These ACEP board-approved documents describe ACEP’s policies on the clinical management of presenting symptoms, specific illnesses or injuries. ACEP’s Clinical Policies Committee develops each guideline.

Opportunities

Honor your “Heroes in Emergency Medicine”
ACEP will be commemorating its 40th anniversary in 2008. As part of the anniversary activities, the Alabama ACEP chapter would like to honor selected emergency physicians who have made significant contributions to our specialty. The chapter will select a “hero” each month during 2008. Honorees will be featured on the ACEP website, in ACEP News, and in various other ways. To submit a candidate to receive this honor, please contact Denise Louthain, the executive director of Alabama ACEP.

Upcoming Meetings

ACEP Scientific Assembly
Chicago, IL
October 24-30, 2008
Register online

Advanced Pediatric Life Support Course (APLS)
Birmingham, AL
Nov 17-18, 2008
Contact Megan Beal for more information

Alabama ACEP Board Meeting
Montgomery, AL
December 4, 2008

Alabama ACEP Board Meeting
Montgomery, AL
March 5, 2009

MASA Annual Session
San Destin, FL
April 17-18, 2009

Alabama ACEP Annual Meeting
San Destin, FL
June 15-18, 2009

Welcome New Members

Charlton P Dennison, Tuscaloosa
Peter N Gottschalk, Huntsville
Melissa K Moore, Birmingham
Matthew D Wolfe, Birmingham
William H Barton, III, MD, Birmingham
Erin R Crompton, MD, Birmingham 
Phillip E Douglas, DO, Birmingham
Aaron L Dupree, MD, Birmingham
Scott W Irvine, MD, Birmingham
John Clinton Jacobs, MD, Birmingham
Dennis R O'Connor, MD, Birmingham
Elis Y. Olson, MD, Birmingham
Scott Hendry Pfitzer, MD, Birmingham
John Curran Sullivan, MD, Homewood
Genti Tahiraj, MD, Birmingham
Ross Vandernoot, MD, Birmingham 

Alabama Chapter ACEP
PO Box 1265
Dothan, AL 36302
Copyright © 2008 Alabama Chapter ACEP. All rights reserved.

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