DHL appointed John Pearson as chief executive officer for the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Pearson will lead one of the fastest growing regions within DHL Express. EEMEA is the largest region in the network, covering 86 countries and 14 time zones. Pearson will supervise more than 10,000 employees serving customers in over 850 languages.

“John has always had a singular focus in responding to the needs of the business and in identifying and securing appropriate and new channels for profitable growth,” said John Mullen, CEO, DHL Express. “His direct experience of working in the Middle East for eight years coupled with his business acumen and commercial experience will be a huge asset in the diverse region of EEMEA.”

Pearson, who has over 20 years of experience within DHL Express starting in the Middle East, moves from the company’s global office, where he most recently held the position of executive vice president commercial.

The El Dorado Middle School football teams lost their openers to Andover Central at Galen Blackmore Stadium Thursday.

The 7th-grade Cats scored a late touchdown but lost to Central, 24-8, while the 8th-graders gave up a late touchdown and lost a 7-6 heart-breaker to the visiting Jaguars.

The El Dorado 7th-graders played tough early against Central, but the Jags started to wear down the Cats in the second half. El Dorado got on the board on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Travis House to Jared Haury with 2:48 remaining. House ran in the two-point conversion.

“We didn’t play too badly,” said coach Adam Olson. “Our passing game actually did quite well, and our kids worked hard and never gave up. The crowd was very supportive.”

The Cat 8th-graders were involved in a defensive struggle against Central. El Dorado scored first in the second quarter on a 26-yard run by tailback Fred Winsor. The score was set up by an interception by Trevor Crain.

A fourth-quarter interception by Bryce Morgan looked like it might preserve the win, but a bad punt snap on the next possession set Central up at the Cats’ 3-yard line, and they scored on third down from the 1 with just 1:05 left. The extra-point kick proved to be the winning point.

“I thought we were very physical on defense,” said coach Dustin Dooley. “We still have some work to do on offense, but I like the direction we’re headed. We just have to keep working hard in practice and get ready for league play.”

Changes in the way emergency medical service personnel are certified will make it harder and more expensive to train emergency responders and likely will deter people from entering the profession, metro Detroit fire chiefs say.
The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians in 2013 no longer will certify paramedics who graduate from unaccredited training programs. It’s a move the Columbus, Ohio-based registry — which certifies emergency medical service personnel nationwide — says will improve the quality of emergency responders across the country.

Only two of the 42 EMS training programs in Michigan have the required accreditation — those operated by Lansing Community College and Huron Valley Ambulance in Ann Arbor.

Last month, Bloomfield Township became one of the first municipalities in the state to pass a resolution expressing concern over the proposed changes. Also in July, the Southeast Michigan Association of Fire Chiefs drafted a proposed resolution in opposition to the new education standards.

Fire chiefs fear that unaccredited programs — most based at fire stations — will close when the new rules take effect, leaving only longer and more expensive training programs. There are 29,000 emergency medical service personnel in the state. All must receive additional training every few years.

“There already is a shortage of EMS responders in Michigan,” said Jon Hockman of Livonia, vice president of the Michigan Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. “Yet we’re getting this rammed down our throats. … These new standards would create an even larger shortage. That means higher risk to the public.”

Michigan emergency medical service personnel must pass the same certification examinations as those attending programs accredited by the Texas-based Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions.

But proponents say paramedic accreditation is needed to create uniform minimum training requirements from state to state. They argue EMS training programs will adjust to the new standards and doubt the number of people training as emergency responders will drop significantly.

Furthermore, proponents of the changes point out that all other allied health professionals, such as doctors and nurses, have to go through accredited training programs to get certified.

“All we’re trying to do is produce credible paramedics across the nation,” said Bill Brown, executive director of the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, which proposed the changes based on recommendations in several federal reports. “We’re saying, ‘You’ve got to do this for the betterment of the people in your state.’

“Am I going to say that we’re going to save millions of lives because we’re going to go through this more rigorous training? No. But this is a part of getting there. It creates a culture of excellence.”

Most states already use the organization’s test to certify paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

Firehouse-based programs in Michigan are inspected and monitored by state EMS officials, but many would not meet national accreditation standards, fire officials say.

For example, many of the unaccredited programs do not have extensive libraries or offer career counseling — which are required for accreditation. Adding those features and going through the accreditation process could cost up to $30,000, fire officials say. The process includes periodic program inspections by out-of-state emergency response professionals.

“We would need a library, counseling, on-site inspections,” said Ron Spears, director of a popular EMS training program based at the Waterford Fire Department.

“Our school would cease to operate. We have a very successful pass rate on the certification exam. Many fire departments send their people to us. It would just be a shame.”

WINFIELD - The estate of a Putnam County man says county EMS workers didn’t do enough to keep him from dying.

Angela Wagner, as adminstratrix of the estate of Arthur Ray Baker, filed the lawsuit July 30 in Putnam Circuit Court against the Putnam County Commission, doing business as Putnam County Emergency Medical Services.

In the complaint, Wagner says Baker, an asthmatic, experienced respiratory distress on May 3, 2006, and called 911.

Upon arrival, the EMS workers were, according to the complaint, “slow, leisurely and unhurried.” This apparently made Baker “agitated and restless due to lack of air.”

The suit says no stretcher or oxygen was initially provided to Baker.

Baker, 28, was instructed “to walk unassisted down two flights of stairs to the stretcher with no oxygen being administered.”

“Please don’t let me die,” Baker told the EMS workers, according to the suit. The workers “acted as if it was a bother or nuisance to them to have to respond to the emergency call.”

The complaint says more than 30 minutes elapsed between the time the EMS workers arrived at Baker’s home in Winfield and the time they left to take him to Putnam General Hospital.

Baker’s symptoms began to worsen dramatically, according to the lawsuit.

“He was placed on a stretcher, seized and stopped breathing,” the complaint states. “No treatment was provided to Arthur Baker until he crashed.”

Despite attempts to resuscitate him by EMS workers and Putnam General employees, Baker died.

“The autopsy report indicates that ‘Arthur Ray Baker, a 28-year-old man, died as the result of acute respiratory failure due to bronchial asthma,’” the suit states.

Wagner says the EMS workers failed to properly and timely provide treatment to Baker. She calls their actions careless, reckless, willful and wanton.

Baker, she says, was forced to endure mental anguish, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and, ultimately, death. In addition to the mental anguish, Baker’s estate also has had to pay medical and funeral expenses because of the EMS workers’ actions, the suit states.

Wagner seeks compensatory and punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment costs, fees and other relief.

Wagner is represented by Charleston attorney and physician Richard D. Lindsay. The case has been assigned to Circuit Court Judge O.C. “Hobby” Spaulding.

When families need a little extra money to help pay the bills, they often turn to an old American stand-by — the yard sale.

Members of the Keyser EMS ambulance service hope their yard sale this weekend will help them not only pay the bills but also keep providing emergency medical services for area residents.

“We’re not funded by the city, and the only thing we really get from the county is a new ambulance every 10 years,” director Judy Bush said.

“Insurance companies only pay so much, and there is often no regularity in regard to when they pay.”

Noting that the company received a notice that one insurance company would not be paying its July bills until later in August, she said, “Some days you just pray, please let a check come in.”

As for those residents without insurance, some pay their bills and some don’t.

Which leaves paid memberships and the funds raised by the volunteers and paid members of the service to make up the bulk of the budget.

“We struggle for grants,” Bush said, “but they’re hard to get. If we were a fire company, they’d be handing us money.”

Bush and another member visited City Council earlier this month to appeal for help.

“I asked the city to take over (paying) our paid staff,” she said, noting that Keyser EMS has six full-time and four part-time staff members.

Mayor Glen “Bunk” Shumaker and the council members said they could not take on the employees at this time.

They agreed to possibly set up an agreement where the crew could get fuel from the city.

“Something’s got to give,” Bush said.

“Last July, we spent about $575 a month for fuel. Right now, it’s around $1,100 to $1,200.” The company sold the one ambulance it owned, taking the fleet down to the two county-owned ambulances.

The steady decline in the number of volunteer members is a large contributor to their problems, according to Bush.

She worries about what may lay down the road if the company cannot recover from the present slump.

“If the day ever comes that we have to shut our doors, what would people do?” she said, noting that New Creek is the next due company.

So they hang their hopes on fundraisers such as the yard sale, which will be held Saturday and Sunday in the Federal Emergency Management Agency lot just above the company’s Water Street headquarters.

Bush has been pleased with the amount of support that has come in the form of donations for the yard sale.

The turnout has just been unbelievable, she said, including everything from furniture to household items, small appliances, knickknacks, toys, computers, clothing and everything in between.

The sale will get under way at 8 a.m. each day, and items will be sold on a donation basis.

“We’ll just accept whatever people want to offer,” she said.

“Every year, we’ve taken in at least $200 more than the year before. This year, we’re hoping for at least $700,” she said.

BETHEL — For more than 30 years the Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Department has provided emergency medical services to residents. Now the department needs financial help.”We don’t have enough revenue to pay for staffing and supplies,” Stony Hill Fire Department Chief Kenny Parciasepe said of the need for paid emergency medical technicians and for supplies, such as oxygen masks and bandages, for the ambulance.

The department plans to begin billing residents for ambulance service — something it has never done — in October to be able to hire two paid EMTs to supplement its volunteers.

But even with the billing, Parciasepe said there will be a shortfall in revenue.

He turned to town officials for assistance, and Tuesday night the Board of Selectmen unanimously passed a resolution to have a joint meeting with the Board of Finance about Stony Hill Fire Department EMS staffing expenses.

A date has not yet been set for the joint meeting.

“We want them to remain solvent and to make sure there is no shortfall,” First Selectman Bob Burke said about the department in an interview after Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting.

Parciasepe said he feels “positive” about town officials’ ultimate response. “I feel we’ll get the support from the town.”

The Wednesday death of a 78-year-old Forks Township man has been dragged into an ongoing battle between Forks EMS, Suburban EMS and township supervisors.

Last month, supervisors decided to split emergency medical services between Forks EMS, a basic life support unit, and Suburban EMS, an advanced life support unit.

Forks EMS officials, unhappy about the split, allege the patient died because Suburban didn’t arrive in time to save him. Forks EMS, which is based closer to the man’s Newlins Road West home, could have gotten to him two minutes faster than Suburban, they claim.

Tags: EMS

It looks like a major emergency but it’s a scene set up to simulate a school shooting. It’s just one example of scenarios created for Utica’s first ever international EMS competition.

Two teams from Poland are competing with a team from Dryden and Utica’s EMS crews. The teams are scored on a points basis on each aspect of their response to the emergency.

Each scenario comes with actors and makeup designed to make it look as real as possible. And it’s not just about the competition. Paramedics say it is a valuable training tool.

“Most training we have is simulation, and it’s obvious it’s simulated. When you bring in the actual stresses of people yelling and family members and the situation makes it look real, it brings the training to a new level,” said Philip Taurisano, a Utica firefighter and paramedic.

The winning team will get an all expenses paid trip to compete at the annual competition in Poland.

Tags: EMS competition in Utica

“In a year wracked by economic uncertainty and stumbling global stock markets, Russia has been an unlikely standout performer,” explains global investment expert Nick Vardy.

In his Global Bull Market Alert, the advisor asserts, “The Market Vectors Russia ETF (NYSE: RSX), is a bet that Russia’s buoyant stock market performance this year is set to continue.”

“Even as China is now down by more than 50%, bad boy Russia’s performance has been second only to Brazil this year and it actually has outperformed its BRIC rival by a hair during the past three months.

“Despite Russia’s reputation as a country rife with corruption, scant respect for genuine democracy and the Rule of Law, it’s always hard to argue with success.

“Scan the Russian press, and it quickly becomes apparent that the contrast between the collective economic mood of Russia and the United States couldn’t be sharper. While U.S. drivers cringe at $4 per gallon gas, Russia celebrates high oil prices as the source of its newfound wealth.

“To add insult to injury, the most recent Forbes 400 list confirms that Moscow now boasts more billionaires than New York City.

“Vladimir Putin’s political shenanigans notwithstanding, it’s hard to deny Russian economic achievements. Soaring global demand for its precious commodities and a rising middle class whose disposable income has exploded during the past few years have fueled Russia’s decade-long economic boom.

“During that period, Russia’s nominal gross domestic product soared to $1.7 trillion in 2007 from less than $200 billion in 1999. While the US struggles to skirt recession, Russia’s government expects GDP to hit 7.6% for 2008.

“Goldman Sachs predicts that Russia’s economy will overtake Britain, France and Germany during the next few decades to become the biggest economy in Europe.

“And after the Chinese Olympics in Beijing this summer, expect attention to turn toward Russia as it gets set to take the world stage in six years when it will be hosting the Winter Olympics in 2014. In preparation for the games, Russia is planning to invest $200 billion in its own crumbling infrastructure.

“The single best way to play Russia’s economy and stock market is through the Market Vectors Russia ETF, which is weighted most heavily in oil and gas (40%), metals (25%), telecom (13%) and finance (11%).

“Its largest individual weightings are in Lukoil (10%), Russia’s second-largest oil producer, and Gazprom (8%), the world’s largest gas company.

“VimpelCom, Russia’s second-largest mobile provider, followed by telecoms Mobile TeleSystems and Rostelecom, steel producer Mechel, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods make up the ETF’s next largest holdings.”

Each day, Steven Halpern’s TheStockAdvisors.com offers the latest market commentary and favorite investment ideas from the nation’s leading financial newsletter advisors.

The first disagreement between the EMS Ambulance board and the Hancock County board is over, allowing the LaHarpe Ambulance Service to keep a county-owned ambulance.

The LaHarpe Ambulance Service is in service this year as a newly-formed ambulance service that is not operated by the county. The county ambulance service and LaHarpe have signed mutual aid agreements to cover each other’s territory when needed.

LaHarpe uses a county-owned ambulance as its primary unit. They also have a privately-funded second ambulance as a backup. The county-owned ambulance is still in LaHarpe and the EMS Ambulance board recommended letting them keep the ambulance.

The recommendation was discussed at the June Hancock County Board meeting where the board was split on the idea. Discussion encompassed the specific idea to what powers the ambulance board had.

“We sat here and voted in December that we were going to okay their recommendations just like we do any other department,” said county board member Randy White. “Now it sounds like we’re taking it back.

“I had eight calls from EMS personnel after we set up the (EMS) board who said they finally have some confidence in the county board on this,” added White.
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The ambulance in LaHarpe is a 2002 Medtec ambulance with over 23,000 miles. It’s estimated retail value is $46,000. It is the newest ambulance of the county’s seven ambulances. The county buys a new ambulance for each service on a rotating basis.

EMS Director Perry Cameron said the board’s recommendation was based in part on LaHarpe already having the ambulance and being used to it.

“Some of our logic is, didn’t the taxpayers already pay for it,” said Cameron. “They’ve collected ambulance tax dollars in LaHarpe just like we have in Carthage or Warsaw.”

Some county board members did not want to give the ambulance to LaHarpe for free, saying most of it was paid for by taxes collected by others outside LaHarpe. Board member Debbie Limkemann said the board should treat this like they would any other county department.

“We make others go by their budget,” said Limkemann. “I don’t think that includes giving away the ambulances.”

Limkemann came up with a formula that took the cost of the ambulance and divided it by the number of services in the county. The formula showed LaHarpe owned 8 percent of the ambulance, or $14,440.

She suggested LaHarpe paying the difference between the cost of the ambulance and the $14,400.

“It’s some way to come up with a reasonable amount,” she said.

Cameron said he didn’t think a formula like Limkemann’s worked.

“There’s a big difference in providing an ambulance versus selling an ambulance. There’s a big difference in value,” said Cameron.

The county board voted on a proposal from White to suspend the rules to vote on the recommendation, which was not an action item on the agenda. The vote was 8-6 with one absent in favor of suspending the rules, but the vote did not pass because it needed a two-thirds majority.

Cameron said he presented some of the points against the recommendation from a county board member to the EMS board at its meeting last week. The board again unanimously recommended giving the ambulance to LaHarpe.

“The board didn’t see any reason to change its recommendation,” said Cameron.

Cameron said this is the first issue the two boards have not agreed on since the EMS board became active early this year.

“I think we’ve done a good job and come a long way in the last six months,” said Cameron.

The Health and Miscellaneous Committee, which oversees EMS matters, met last night (Tuesday).

The EMS board did buy an ambulance building for about $75,000 east of Carthage on Rt. 136. Three and possibly four ambulances are being stored in the building.

“We’ll keep two ambulances at (Memorial) Hospital while they are still at their present location,” said Cameron. “Once they move, we’ll have the primary ambulance at the hospital and the other one will be at the new building.”

The EMS board plans to keep sharing an office with Hancock County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency.