December 2, 2004
Minutes – General Meeting
Volker Hall, UAB

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Fredric D. Burg, Chairman, Emergency Response Commission. After a brief recap Dr. Burg outlined the accomplishments in the last 180 days since the commission was established. From that time, multiple committee meetings have been held and the commission after careful study developed a set of eight recommendations. Dr. Burg thanked Senator Lowell Barron for his vision in establishing this commission, as well as, the seven committee chairs and all the commissioners and consultants.

Dr. Burg then introduced Dr. William Curry, Associate Dean of the University Of Alabama in Birmingham, School of Medicine. Dr. Curry welcomed the commission and apologized for Dr. Robert Rich, who was not able to attend due to scheduling conflicts. Dr. Curry is pleased with the issues the commission is working on and for the recognition being received.

Dr. Burg then introduced Ralph Stacy and Carol Brown from the Business Council of Alabama and stated that their organizations are very key players in Alabama’s efforts to have a safer state. Ralph Stacy reported on the four regional meetings that have been held thus far throughout the state. There was a very broad range of participants from big corporations, state representatives, one-owner businesses and the ability we have to reach out to our constituents. The question to these participants was “Can you make it happen” and the answer was “YES”. Again, Mr. Stacy thanked the commission for letting them be a part of its work.

Representative Jim McClendon, Chair of the Unintentional Injury Committee was the first presenter and thanked Senator Lowell Barron and Dr. Fred Burg. Rep. McClendon stated that his committee came up with 25-30 ideas and eventually narrowed these down to two.

1. Child Safety Restraint Laws – would like to establish legislation that children should be restrained in a safety seat based on “weight” rather than “age”. Currently, a four-year old can legally be in an adult seat. There are many people that can not afford child safety restraints and his committee recommended that a fine be imposed on those not using a child seat. This money would in-turn be used to purchase seats for those who are not able.

There was a motion by Rep. McClendon to proceed forward with this recommendation, the motion was seconded and there was unanimous approval.


2. Cell Phone Usage - The second recommendation from this committee was to ban anyone 17 and below to use a cell phone while operating a vehicle. This would target “new” drivers and have the greatest impact. At this time, it is very difficult to obtain data to support the premise that more accidents occur during cell phone usage. The discussion included two questions. Those were:

Have you talked to law enforcement to see how to enforce this”? Rep. McClendon indicated that he had not.

What is the feasibility of the Alabama Legislature passing this measure? (Rep. McClendon explained it took five years to get the original seatbelt bill passed.
Senator Barron spoke and said “I think it will be difficult, but we need to start, we need to begin. It’s worth doing.”

A motion was made to pass this recommendation; it was seconded, unanimous approval.

Martin Nowak, Chair, Hospital and Nursing Home Committee discussed the statewide trauma system proposal. He said he had endorsements from the Alabama Hospital Association and Dr. Williamson of the State Health Department. The motion was made and approved.

Charles Nailen, Chair, Wellness Committee reported the following three recommendations:

1. EPI Cards – this is a program put in place by Blue Cross & Blue Shield. You can enter as much health data as you would like (blood type, allergies, surgeries, emergency contacts). His committee would like to have 50% of all children registered with a card by 2006. Website is: www.myepi.net.

Question from the floor: “How does this cut costs”? If you are in an accident the paramedics can put in your registration code and depending on any allergies or current medications, this will affect how they treat the patient. Therefore, this would cut down on dangerous drug interactions, etc.

Motion was made to proceed with an education program to support the EPI cards, seconded, and was unanimously approved.

2. Physical Fitness & Nutrition – the State of Alabama has a huge problem and need we need to educate the public so as to modify their behavior regarding eating habits and stress physical activity.

The obesity problem in the State of Alabama is a great concern. In 1990, the obesity rate for children doubled, while it tripled among teens. 62% of adults are obese, while 50% of the children are overweight. More than 60% of middle school and high school students don’t attend PE.

HOW? Through the schools, implement an educational program that would trickle down through to home and the workplace. One way to change diets would possible remove the vending machines from schools. There was a concern from the floor stating that many schools use the profits from vending machines as revenue.

There was a discussion from the floor:

Rep. Baker asked if our aim was to require PE in public schools.
We may need to look at passing through the legislature a change in the school curriculum.

Lori Blanton of the American Cancer Society asked if there would be screening for other illnesses related to obesity.
Dr. Burg said that was a very good question and we would look at that.

The motion to establish programs aimed at decreasing obesity and physical activity won unanimous approval.

3. The Alabama Child Caring Foundation was established by Blue Cross & Blue Shield to provide insurance to those who are not covered by Medicaid or other resources. We have approximately 65,000 uninsured children in Alabama. Of that 35,000 are covered under the Alabama Child Caring Foundation, while the remaining 30,000 are ineligible for Medicaid or any other service. Blue Cross & Blue Shield currently matches $1.00 for $1.00. The goal is to have 5000 more children enrolled in the Alabama Child Caring Foundation in the next two years. The Business Council of Alabama and Chambers of Commerce will attempt to raise $500,000 while BCBS will match that amount. There was a concern from the floor stating that we may need to look at the “undocumented Hispanic population” growth and see how we may be able to help this situation.

There was a motion from the floor to seek funding for the Alabama Child Caring Foundation, seconded and was passed unanimously.

Uninsured & Medicaid – Dr. Fred Burg reported in the absence of Dr. Robert Beshear, Chair of the Uninsured & Medicaid Committee. Dr. Burg presented statistics demonstrating the crisis the Medicaid Program is facing. There will be a $160M shortfall in funding in 2005-2006. There was a motion by Vice Chairman, Charles Hartsell, to pass the recommendation to “seek recurring funding for Medicaid”, it was seconded and was passed. There was a question from the floor on “Where do we get the money”? Dr. Burg indicated that we should work this quietly for the time being among ourselves.

State Models Committee - Dr. Burg reported on the State Models Committee in the absence of Mr. George Clay, Chairman. A motion was made to see some sort of legislation passed to contain the liability costs to specify what compensatory damages and what punitive damages would entail and how that money would be allocated.

There was an issue raised on the floor to table the liability proposal. That motion failed (three to four commissioners voted in favor of tabling it). A second motion was made to pass the liability proposal. It was approved with two commissioners dissenting.

Pharmaceuticals Committee – Carol Brown reported the status of this committee in the absence of John Beasley. The committee has three top issues:
1. Develop generic drug programs
2. Drug purchasing pool (this would include teacher and state employees)
3. Develop a partnership with pharmacists for counseling

At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Burg asked the commission if there were any other recommendations that needed to addresses. Dr. Jimmie Denise Clark came forth and recommended that the “Rural Physician Tax Credit” be raised from $5,000 to $7,500. This will enable rural areas to keep any type of physician in these areas. There was a motion from the floor to approve, seconded and was passed.

Dr. Burg then concluded with “What are the next steps”? The final report for Phase I is almost complete and he will sit down with Senator Barron and the Executive Committee in the next few weeks to come up with a tactical plan and prioritize the recommendations. Dr. Burg is pleased with the committee and the chairs and will be sending out a letter asking for commitment from the commissioners to continue the Commissions work for at least another year.

Dr. Burg recognized two guests attending the meeting. They were representatives from the Alabama Retail Association and the Alabama Soft Drink Association. Dr. Burg invited them to attend future meetings of the commission.

At the conclusion of the meeting, President Pro Tempore Senator Lowell Barron expressed his great satisfaction with the work of the commission and stated “This has been a memorable day and a very productive day. We’ve only begun this journey.” Senator Barron thanked everyone and Dr. Burg for his great leadership. Senator Barron acknowledged that the solution will not be easy but monumental. He said, “I intend to ask the Legislature to try to move as much of this agenda as we can. He said he looks forward to continuing to work with everyone who attended.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 noon.