September 30^th, 2003

Meeting called to order by Terry Volk at 1:00 P.M. (CT).

Division of Emergency Medical Services, Tim Meyer, Director: Tim has been in his position since April, 2003. He is a paramedic and works part-time at LifeFlight out of Fargo to maintain his paramedic status. The Division of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is the lead agency for all EMS. The State has a total of 142 ambulance services, 20 are ALS & 122 are BLS. They regulate Ambulance services and inspect these services every other year. To qualify as a Certified Quick Response Unit, the service has to operate 24/7 as well as other requirements. The state has a total of 4,000 Emergency Responders, 1,700 are First Responders, 1, 900 EMTs,(240 EMT-Intermed) & 300 Paramedics. North Dakota uses the National Registry Curriculum for certification of Emergency Medical Technicians, Intermediates, and Paramedics. $940,000 in the biennium is used to support the ambulance services through grants. The Division of EMS will pay $500 to an organization to train each new volunteer EMT, as long as the new EMT works on the ambulance for six months. The Division of EMS manages the State Trauma System...This system involves 46 hospitals in North Dakota. Thirty-two of these hospitals are designated as trauma centers. This Statewide Trauma System ensures that a trauma patient is stabilized and transported to definitive care. There are no Level 1 hospitals in ND. Level 2-has all specialties, types of doctors, on staff. Level 4 & 5 is the bulk of hospitals in ND. This Division also has the EMS for Children, which is a Federally funded program for children's health. Helps to educate school systems & promote safety for children. Have an ambulance data collection system...collects information on ambulance runs. Presently coordinating an EMS Advisory Committee, which will include a representative from the ND 911 Association. This committee will help to make them more responsive to the needs of the people. Shelly Arnold will continue to be our point of contact and has also taken on a position as the State Trauma Coordinator. The APCO Training committee is working with the Division of EMS in getting the State EMD cards ready. In the process of getting Dr. Roller, who is the President of the Medical Directors Association, to sign off on these cards...then we will be ready for a final print. The PSAPs that purchase these State EMD Cards will be required to have the approval of their Medical Director, before use of the cards in the dispatch center. Cards will be available for all agencies that request them with the requirement that the users of these cards have to be EMD certified.

Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security Coordinator- Doug Friez: Doug talked about the consolidation of Emergency Management, Homeland Security and State Radio. This decision was made by the Executive branch of government. The idea was that this consolidation would allow us to give better warning & communications, a comprehensive approach to safety in North Dakota. A move to the future. Effective interoperable communications, homeland security and emergency management. Doug thinks that State Radio can take the disaster information and handle it instead of calling a react officer to call someone back. Skips a step and speeds up the process of handling an emergency. Wants to develop a strategic plan to migrate from the analog radio system to a digital radio system statewide. They have some funds to initiate this process. Russ Timmreck is now the Director of the State Operations Center. Rick Hessinger has taken a position with ITD. Rick’s technical knowledge is better served at ITD. This was a customer oriented consolidation. The transition will take some time...both analog & digital radio systems must be provided, for awhile. We have no solutions today. Need to understand the issues...to find the solutions. Either things will stay the same or get better...they will not get worse. Homeland Security monies will be handled carefully...guidelines on use of these funds will not tell people how to run their operations. Presently each County Emergency Manager has monies allocated to their County, to be used for that county. The Office of Management & Budget (OMB), the Adjutant General, the Chief of Staff, the Governor, and the Majority Leaders of the Legislature have made the decision to consolidate State Radio and Emergency Management/Homeland Security and we have to work with it. State Radio Counties will have an opportunity to give input in this transition period. Doug needs these counties to let him know of any issues they may have.

State Operations Center, Director Russ Timmreck: Russ states that State Radio is very solid, no one is leaving. All employees will be going through professional transitional workshops. Russ is asking everyone to give this a chance...please do not sabotage this process.

GIS & E911 Overview- GIS Coordinator for State of ND, Bob Nutsch: Geographical Information System (GIS) is a visual way to connect people to a database. The GIS Hub is hosted by ITD for storing & sharing State agency GIS Data. Bob talked about the possible role that the GIS Hub may be able to play in the future of statewide E911. State agencies are directly connected to the hub...others can access the hub through the web.

GIS & E911 Possibilities...An effective GIS-based E911 system allows public safety personnel to plan for emergency response, determine mitigation priorities, analyze historical events and predict future events.

-use maps to show symbols showing hospitals..all beds in use.

-use Maps to show problems... chemical hazards and nearby assistants...like fire plugs.

-show towers

-locate all addresses within a modeled plume for notification...have auto notification.

-others...routing , navigation of emergency vehicle, crash reporting, auto vehicle location, dispatch...& etc...

-Mobile GIS units (people with handhelds or laptops) collect information at site and upload this to emergency operations center for immediate use within mapping systems.

-Develop GIS response teams within the state, they are called upon to supply GIS expertise and equipment in an emergency situation.

-GIS and E911 should be part of an overall statewide emergency management and homeland security plan.

-Local government can be the best data provider & data manager.

-Base Map Data-accurate street & road center lines with addresses, aerial photos and boundaries.

-Funding to collect & maintain data.

-Need a champion of GIS/E911/EM, define who will be involved.

-need a communications mechanism.

-Need a plan.

Possible next steps:

- Local government-optional involvement define benefits in sharing data.

-Data, GIS Hub and County Data, & margin of area around state. Define accuracy standards to a common denominator, be practical.

-Road Centerline data steps, -what do we have?, -create new data? -addressing?, QA/QC-verify loc & addresses? -maintenance...who will maintain and how often? Funding-E911 surcharge, Partnering in data. Who should lead this whole effort?...Draft a plan.

With Arcview 8x...go to ...this website will give you information on how to access the data on the HUB.

With Arcview 3x..then you need to do the direct connect to get information. Bob advises to go to 8x as soon as you can...8x takes more computer space. Email Bob at to obtain this entire presentation. -has a lot of information nationwide. There is a lot of information already on the web. Esri website also has training on their website. Terry Volk is welcoming any information from members on GIS, so he can post it on the ND 911 Association Website.

Becky Ault-GIS Presentation: Becky gave presentation on the GIS Status in Pembina County. Becky states that Federal Mapping standards are + or - 20 feet.

Digital Radio Project-Jerry Fossum, Director of Telecommunications Information Technology Dept.(ITD) & Bob Speckler, Department of Transportation: Jerry & Bob talked about what they do. The task- develop a plan for statewide mobile communications. They have the support of the Governor. The Process- need to process a plan. Need input. Communicate the plan. Pursue Funding (put a plan together then present it to the Legislation for funding). Paging is an issue that still is not known on how it will fit into the digital radio system. Digital paging has been around but involves an infrastructure that is not in a two-way radio. Jerry states VHF will be what we will use for the Digital radio system. Drive the Plan- DEM/State Radio Ops, DOT Radio Division & ITD Telecommunications Division...This is the team that they have developed to work on this plan..they need our input to know what you need, and the needs of all the entities. This team will inform all entities of what they are going to be doing step by step...so everyone will know exactly where we stand in the plan. Brent Nelson asked if ITD could go to Counties & assess the radio system that is in the county presently...and give ideas on what they need.

Meeting adjourned at 5:00 PM

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October 1, 2003

Meeting called to order by Terry Volk at 9:00 A.M.(CT).

Round Table Introductions were made: (see sign in sheet)

National APCO Conference on August 12-17, 2003, in Indianapolis, Indiana Highlights:

1. Instant Communication Vendor Option-Becky Ault: Becky talked about a Reverse 911 Vendor that may be more affordable. Talk to Becky Ault for more details.

2. Project 38-Gary Kostelecky: Phase II with Verizon is working. Working on concerns regarding the rebid process for a longitude/latitude location from a cellular phone. Working with Western Wireless for Phase II. You will need a cellular phone with a GPS Chip, in order to get Phase II information on a 911 call.

3. Highpoints-Janelle Pepple: The ND APCO Chapter is again the recipient of the Density Award. This award gives the Chapter one paid registration for next years conference. Talked about bringing National trainers to future ND APCO Conferences. Janelle will be mailing out to all APCO Members, copies of information from classes that she attended at this conference.

4. Topics of Interest-Tammy Lapp: Not present but left information on a testing program for new dispatchers. Contact Tammy Lapp for more information.

5. Project 25-Mike Dannenfelzer: Looked at Project 25-Radio Standards information, for details contact Mike.

(Note: Also check the ND 911 Association Website () regarding information on this National APCO Conference)

Business Meeting:

Approval of Minutes for June 24 & 25th, 2003: Motion made by Janelle Pepple to approve minutes from the June 24 & 25^th, 2003 meeting. This motion was seconded by Fred Debowey. All members in favor. Motion passed.

Treasurers Report: Carmen Reed reported a balance of $4,721.39 as of 10/01/03. Janelle Pepple made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report. Jerry Bergquist seconded this motion. All in favor. Motion passed. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires a 5 year financial report to maintain our Nonprofit Status. All monies must be separated on deposits to show membership dues and other revenues. A year end financial report must now be done every year. This report to the IRS got in very late...not sure of our status. Discussed hiring an accountant to take care of tax reports. Decided to wait and see what kind of feedback we get from the IRS.

Committee Reports

1. APCO-Janelle Pepple: The Division of Emergency Medical Services has approved a $2,000 grant for getting our State EMD Cards printed. Miranda Jangula %Morton 911 Dispatcher was awarded the Dispatcher of the Year yesterday. Next APCO/NENA Conference will be in Rapid City, ND in 2004.

2. Wireless-Russ Lindblom: The Wireless Committee had an informal meeting yesterday, in order to bring Russ Timmreck up to speed on what we have been doing. Phase I is on schedule. Russ Lindblom will be contacting all PSAPs in the near future regarding the implementation of Phase I. He has bi-weekly meetings with Qwest. Verifying PSAP Boundary information is now being requested from Qwest/Intrado. Boundaries are defined by County Lines, except for the Fargo Area. Call routing sheets...defines where calls will be routed on a cellular tower. Cellular towers need to be addressed. Intrado only has township-section-range locations for some towers and needs an address to determine the correct routing. FCC ruled, approximately 3 months ago, that the primary area of usage on a cellular phone is the jurisdiction that the 911 fee is to be paid to. (Note: This FCC Ruling will be posted on the ND 911 Association Website at Cellular Companies are trying to set standards on rebidding of a location on Phase II. Phase II will be requested by the individual PSAP as they are ready. If a PSAP receives a request on how information will be delivered from a Phone Company or Intrado/Qwest, please let Russ know...We want this information delivered in a standard format throughout the state. Have submitted & received $165,833 from the PFSA Grant monies. Total Grant monies allowed are $267,000. PSAPs need to apply for grant monies from PFSA for PSAP equipment for Phase I & II. Todd Schreiner has information on how grants for PFSA are written. This information will be posted on the ND 911 Association Website. Russ Lindblom will be going with Russ Timmreck & Doug Friez to Washington DC for an FCC Meeting.

Other Business:

The Next Meeting is tentatively set for the second week in December.

New Business:

EMS Advisory Committee Group being formed by the Division of Emergency Medical Services: Fred Debowey made a motion to allow Janelle Pepple to serve on the EMS Advisory Committee. Todd Schreiner seconded this motion. All members in favor. Motion approved.

Roundtable Discussion:

Motion to adjourn: Motion to adjourn was made by Fred Debowey. Meeting adjourned at 12:00 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Carmen Reed/Secretary-Treasurer