Board Meeting Minutes

American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Minutes of Board of Directors Conference Call
August 12, 2002

IN ATTENDANCE: Joseph Wood, MD, JD; Robert McNamara, MD; A. Antoine Kazzi, MD; Tom Scaletta, MD; Carol Barsky, MD; William Durkin, Jr., MD; James Li, MD; Geoffrey Mitchell, MD; Raymond Roberge, MD; Kevin Rodgers, MD, Paul Sierzenski, MD; Jason May, MD. Absent: Howard Blumstein, MD; Anthony DeMond, MD. Staff: Kay Whalen.

Approval of June 25, 2002 Board of Directors Conference Call Minutes

Dr. Wood welcomed everyone to the call and turned the Board's attention to the first item. Dr. Kazzi moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that the minutes of the June 25, 2002 conference call meeting be approved. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

President's Report

Dr. Wood then reported that he had appointed a committee to review the sexual harassment allegations by an AAEM member. This non-biased committee had reviewed the allegations and found them groundless. Dr. Wood will communicate this decision to the member making the allegations.

Dr. Wood then reported to the Board that he had not received a response to the e-mail that he had sent to Dr. Carius regarding the new written restrictions that AAEM has received from ACEP regarding the types of materials that we can distribute from AAEM's booth at the ACEP Scientific Assembly. The Board requested staff to withdraw the application for booth space and request a refund from ACEP. Then Dr. Barsky moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that AAEM organize a reception honoring Peter Rosen, MD, sometime during the ACEP Scientific Assembly. The Executive Committee will be empowered to organize this session. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Treasurer's Report

Dr. Scaletta then presented the June 30, 2002 treasurer's report. He noted that we had not yet received the invoice from Elsevier for our JEM subscriptions. Overall, AAEM's financial picture is healthy. Ms. Whalen reminded the Board that AAEM's auditing firm was concerned that AAEM had reported a net loss for the previous year. AAEM is on pace to realize a small net income in 2002.

Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that the Treasurer's Report be approved. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Membership Report

Ms. Whalen reported that AAEM's full voting membership total was 4.5% ahead of the 2001 pace. Associate and Resident memberships were, respectively, 47% and 21.5% ahead of the 2001.

Dr. Wood noted that he had received a request from a member for AAEM to establish a government services chapter. The Board discussed this issue and felt that a meeting during the Naval Services conference would be a good time to hold an organizational meeting. Dr. Kazzi moved and Dr. Durkin seconded that AAEM establish a Military Service chapter. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Next, the Board reviewed the applications for Honorary International memberships. Dr. Li moved and Dr. McNamara seconded that Drs. Karoly Piko (Hungary), Gos M. J. de Vries (Holland), Shuji Shimakazi (Japan), Herman Delooz (Belgium) and Jacob Cobi Assaf (Israel) be approved as Honorary International members. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Bylaws Changes

The Board then discussed the bylaws change that would be necessary to shorten the length of time needed for AAEM Officer and Board candidates to be nominated prior to the elections held at the Scientific Assembly. Dr. Barsky moved and Dr. Scaletta seconded that Section 8.3 of the bylaws be amended to read:

8.3 Election Procedure

Any member of AAEM can nominate a board certified, full voting member of AAEM for any position, but only board-certified, full voting Members of AAEM can vote. The exact mechanics of the voting process will involve nominations during a period that will end at 90 days before the start of the next Scientific Assembly. A candidates' forum will be held at the Scientific Assembly. Voting will occur with a written ballot - one person, one vote, by proxy or in-person at the Scientific Assembly. Each Full Voting Member of the Academy shall have one vote for President, one vote for Vice-President, one vote for Secretary-Treasurer and one vote for each open Director position. Each Resident Member will have one vote for the Resident Representative to the Board of Directors.

This election will be completed during the Scientific Assembly. Officers and Directors will take their posts at the conclusion of the meeting.

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Next, the Board briefly discussed the change in title of AAEM Organizational Director to Executive Director. Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that Section 8.12 of the bylaws be changed to read:

8.12 Executive Director

The Board shall appoint an Executive Director (ED). The ED shall, under the direction of the Board, perform duties as the title of the office ordinarily connotes. The ED shall keep an accurate record of the minutes and transactions of the Board, and shall serve as secretary to this body.

The ED shall supervise all other agents of the Academy and have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the Officers, Board or the Constitution.

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Dr. McNamara then asked the Board to once again consider a bylaws change that would require AAEM Board members to be clinically active in Emergency Medicine. Those on the call felt that this would be a good idea.

Amiodarone Position Statement

Dr. Li reported that he had contacted the original authors of the Amiodarone Position Statement and they had agreed to reconsider this position statement. Ms. Whalen will contact them for an update.

Certification Cards

The Board then reviewed the results of the survey on the proposed resuscitation cards. After a lengthy discussion, Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Scaletta seconded that AAEM move forward with the process of producing resuscitation certification cards. MOTION PASSED 8-3-1.

Public Service Announcement

Dr. Li then reported that he had found a vendor who would produce a public service announcement (PSA) for $5,000. The quotes that Ms. Whalen had received for distribution of such PSAs began at $18,000. After discussion, the Board decided that, while such a PSA would indeed be useful, AAEM could not justify such an expense at this time.

Pediatric Statement

The Board then reviewed the proposed joint AAEM/CORD/SAEM Pediatric Position Statement. It was noted that the first sentence should read, " . . . an accredited Emergency Medicine residency or are ABEM/AOBEM certified . . ." Dr. McNamara moved and Dr. Scaletta seconded that the AAEM Board support the following position statement:

Joint AAEM/CORD/SAEM Pediatric Position Statement

Physicians who have successfully completed an accredited Emergency Medicine residency or are ABEM/AOBEM certified possess the knowledge and skills required to provide quality emergency medical care to children of all ages for a wide variety of illnesses, injuries or poisonings. To provide quality care, the emergency physician must have all necessary age-appropriate medical equipment readily available, and have access to appropriate specialty and sub-specialty physicians to provide any needed patient care after emergency department treatment. Physically separated care areas for children are not mandatory in order to provide high-quality care to patients of all ages.

MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

New Business

Dr. Barsky asked if AAEM has a policy regarding advertisers in our job bank to list board certification as a requirement. Ms. Whalen noted that there was no such policy at this time. Dr. Barsky moved and Dr. McNamara seconded that all future AAEM job bank ads read board certification in EM "required" rather than "preferred." MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

There being no further business, Dr. Mitchell moved and Dr. Rodgers seconded that the conference call meeting be adjourned. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Respectfully submitted,

Kay Whalen
Executive Director