The Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors approved two changes to the district’s employee policy manual related to training and certifications at its meeting Aug. 31.

The first change to the Employee Manual of Policies and Procedures, or EMoPP, outlines certification requirements for firefighters and EMS employees. Some of the language under the critical care paramedic guidelines will be updated to reflect what certifications and courses the fire district require.  

“It basically outlines that all individual hires will be required to attend and pass a specific critical care paramedic course that the Mehlville Fire Protection District recognizes,” Chief Brian Hendricks said. “It’s just a clean-up to more clearly define our expectations to what certifications our critical care paramedics must obtain.” 

Upon completion of the approved courses, critical care paramedics will be required to pass the national board exam through the International Board of Specialty Certification.   

The other EMoPP change approved by the board relates to the audio and visual equipment recording policy.

 The health monitors that paramedics take into homes when responding to calls have the ability to record – the change to the EMoPP clarifies what those recordings would be used for. 

“Our monitors have the option to record. We do utilize that option … It is not intended for disciplinary use … It is going to allow us to do quality improvement, training purposes, that we can listen to what actually happens in the room and use it as a training tool,” Hendricks said. 

The recordings are subject to federal privacy laws related to medical records, like HIPAA, and all recordings are destroyed after 30 days. 

The board first heard the proposed changes at an earlier board meeting in August. Because the changes affect the EMoPP, the fire district had to meet and confer about the updates with the firefighters union before the board could approve the changes. Hendricks said the union had no issues with the changes.