Membership - ByLaws

 

 EASTERN SHORE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES COUNCIL

BYLAWS
 
I.                    NAME
The name of this organization shall be the Eastern Shore Emergency Medical Services Council. The Council shall serve as a sub-area council of the Tidewater Emergency Medical Services Council, Incorporated.
 
II.                  PURPOSES
The purposes of this organization shall be to coordinate Emergency Medical Services of the Accomack-Northampton County area and to cooperate with such local and regional organizations as may be appropriate. ESEMSC subscribes to the following goals of an emergency medical services system and will seek to promote them:
 
1.       To establish an emergency medical services system which provides for arrangement of personnel, facilities, and equipment for the effective and coordinated delivery of health care services in the designated geographical area under emergency conditions.
2.       To administer the emergency medical services system which will include an adequate number of health professionals, allied health professionals, and other health personnel, including ambulance personnel, with appropriate training and experience.
3.       To provide for its personnel appropriate training (including clinical training) and continuing education programs which are coordinated with other programs in the system’s service area which provide similar training and education.
4.       To join the personnel, facilities, and equipment of the system by a central communications system so that requests for emergency health care services will be handled by a communications facility which utilizes emergency medical telephonic screening; utilizes a centralized telephone number; and will have direct communication connections and interconnections with the personnel, facilities, and equipment of the system and with other appropriate emergency medical services systems.
5.       To include an adequate number of necessary ground, air, and water vehicles and other transportation facilities to meet the individual characteristics of the system’s service area.
6.       To include an adequate number of easily accessible emergency medical services facilities within the system area which are collectively capable of providing services on a continuous basis, which have appropriate nonduplicative and categorized capabilities, which meet appropriate standards relating to capacity, location, personnel, and equipment, and which are coordinated with other healthcare facilities in the system.
7.       To provide access (including appropriate transportation) to specialized critical medical care units in the system’s service area, or, if there are no such units or an inadequate number of them in such area, provide access to such units in neighboring areas if access to such units is feasible in terms of time and distance.
8.       To provide for the effective utilization of the appropriate personnel, facilities, and equipment of each public safety agency providing emergency services in the system’s service area.
9.       To operate in a manner that provides persons who reside in the system’s service area and who have no professional training or financial interest in the provision of health care with an adequate opportunity to provide input.
10.    To provide, without prior inquiry as to ability to pay, necessary emergency medical services to all patients requiring such services.
11.    To provide for transfer of patients to facilities and programs which offer such follow-up care and rehabilitation as is necessary to effect the maximum recovery by the patient; provided, that the system shall provide a method or assuring that such transfers are consistent with accepted medical practice to serve the best interests of the patient and are not based on financial considerations alone.
12.    To provide for a standardized patient recordkeeping system, which records shall cover the treatment of the patient from initial entry into the system through his discharge from it, and shall be consistent with ensuing patient records used in follow-up care and rehabilitation of the patient.
13.    To provide programs of public education and information in the system’s service area (taking into account the needs of visitors to, as well as residents of, that area to know or be able to learn immediately the means of obtaining emergency medical services) which programs stress the general dissemination of information regarding appropriate methods of medical self-help and first-aid and regarding the availability of first-aid training programs in the area.
14.    To provide for a comprehensive self-evaluation of the extent and quality of the emergency health care services provided in the system’s service area.
15.    To have a plan to assure that the system will be capable of providing emergency medical services in the system’s service area during mass casualties, natural disasters, or national emergencies.
16.    To provide for the establishment of appropriate arrangements with emergency medical services systems or similar entities serving neighboring areas for the provisions of emergency medical services on a reciprocal basis where access to such services would be more appropriate and effective in terms of the services available, time and distance.
 
III.               AREA TO BE SERVED
 
The organization shall serve the areas consisting of the following political sub-divisions of the State of Virginia: Accomack County and Northampton County.


 

 
IV.                BOARD OF DIRECTORS – SECTION I
 
Directors of the Council shall be elected in accordance with the following provisions:
a.                   All directors of the Council shall serve as representatives of the public and in the public interest. They shall represent the entire region served by this organization and shall vote for the best interest of the area as a whole.
b.                   The Council shall be composed of the following:
1     Representative elected or designated by each area EMS agency which is licensed by the Office of Emergency Medical Services, Department of Health, and which is providing basic or advanced life support services in the area.
 
1         Administrator, Shore Memorial Hospital
 
1     Emergency Physician, Shore Memorial Hospital, designated by Hospital Administrator
 
1      Chief Executive of Nursing, Shore Memorial Hospital
 
1      Emergency Department Nurse, Shore Memorial Hospital, designated by Hospital Administrator
 
2         At-Large Hospital Staff Members, Shore Memorial Hospital, designated by Hospital Administrator
 
1      Emergency Medical Services Coordinator or equivalent appointed by the governing body of each County
 
1     Physician At-Large, elected by the Council
 
2      Members At-Large from general public, elected by the Council.
 
POWERS – SECTION 2
 
                                The Council shall have the authority including, but not limited to, the following:
 
a.       Manage and administer the affairs of the organization, each director being entitled to one vote.
b.       Elect the At-large directors of the Council and directors of the organization as provided in these Bylaws.
c.        Appoint such committees as it may deem expedient for the carrying out of the objectives of the organization and as may be consistent with these Bylaws and to terminate the authority of any such committee at any time.
d.       Enter into such agreements with any government or private philanthropic agencies and public or private consulting organizations as, in it judgment, will further and be consistent with the objectives of this organization.
e.        Otherwise perform such acts and functions which will further the objectives and purposes of the organization which are not inconsistent with these Bylaws.
 
V.                  ELECTIONS & DUTIES OF DIRECTORS – SECTION I
 
The directors shall be elected by and from the directorship of the Council, except as hereafter stated, and shall consist of the following:
a.       President
b.       Vice-President
c.        Secretary-Treasurer
 
All directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of the Council in even years for a term of two (2) years or until their successors are elected and take office.
 
PRESIDENT – SECTION 2
 
                The President of the Council shall preside at meetings of the Council and the Executive Committee. He shall have the power to make and execute agreements in the ordinary business of the organization. He shall appoint the members of all committees of the Council with the approval or the Council.
                The President shall have such powers and duties as from time to time may be assigned to him by the Council.
 
VICE-PRESIDENT – SECTION 3
 
                In the absence of the President, or in the event of his inability to act, or if that office is temporarily vacant, the Vice President shall exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of the President of the Council.
 
SECRETARY-TREASURER – SECTION 4
 
                As Treasurer, shall have general supervision over the care and custody of the funds and securities of the Council and shall be Treasurer of the Council. He shall deposit the same or cause the same to be deposited in the name of the Council in such banks or other depositories as the Council may direct. He shall cause the funds of the Council to be disbursed by checks or drafts upon the authorized depositories of the Council and shall cause to be taken and preserved proper vouchers for all funds disbursed. He shall keep or cause to be kept full and accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements of the Council, and shall present to the Council, whenever requested, a complete report of receipts and disbursements and of financial conditions. He shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him from time to time by the Council.
                As Secretary of the Council, shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Council. He shall be responsible for the giving and serving of all notices of meetings of the Council, and in general shall perform all duties incident to the office of the Secretary, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be assigned to him by the Council.
 
AT-LARGE DIRECTORS – SECTION 5
 
                Members At-large of the Council shall be elected at the annual meeting, and their term shall be for one (1) year or until their successor is elected.
 
VACANCIES – SECTION 6
 
                A vacancy in any office shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term by the Council at any regular meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose.
 
VI.                EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
 
It shall be the purpose of the Executive Committee to conduct the necessary and routine business of the Council between meetings of the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee shall consist of the following directors of the Council:
a.       The President, who shall serve as Chairman of the Executive Committee.
b.       The Vice-President
c.        The Secretary-Treasurer
d.       The Immediate Past President
e.        Two (2) directors At-large elected from the Council.
 
A vacancy occurring on the Executive Committee shall be filled at any regular meeting of the Council or at any special meeting called for that purpose.
 
VII.             MEETINGS
 
ANNUAL, REGULAR AND SPECIAL MEETINGS
                The first meeting held in each year shall be designated as the annual meeting. The date, place and exact time of such meetings shall be set by the Council. The Council shall have the power to set the date, times, and places of regular meetings of the Council which shall be not less frequent that every third month. Special meetings of the Council shall be called by the President or by the Secretary on the written request of any five directors of the Council. At least five days’ notice of all meetings shall be sent to each director.
 
VIII.           QUORUM
 
To constitute a quorum at all meetings of the Council and its Executive Committee, one-third of each body shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but less than a quorum may adjourn any meeting without further notice until a quorum may be present.
 
IX.               VOTE
 
Each director of the Council shall be entitled to one vote. All actions taken by the Council shall require a majority vote of those directors present and voting at any meeting. The same procedure shall apply to all meetings of the Council.
 

SECTION X.           Meeting Attendance – Loss of Membership and Restoration

Member agencies and at‐large directors of the Council must be represented at a minimum of one meeting annually (per calendar year) to maintain their membership status as voting members of the Council. Any entity whose representative or alternate representative fails to attend the minimum of one meeting annually shall forfeit membership on the Council. Agencies/at‐large directors may reapply for membership to the Council at any meeting, with such action requiring a majority vote of the Council. The voting privileges of said agency/at‐large director shall be restored after a period of six‐months from the reinstatement of the membership.

XI.                  AMENDMENTS
 
These Bylaws may be amended or repealed at any meeting of the Council by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of those directors present, provided notice of all proposed amendments shall have been mailed or emailed to the directors of the Council at least five (5) days prior to such meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
© 2023 Eastern Shore EMS, Sub-Council of Tidewater EMS Council