The Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors heard two possible changes to the district’s employee policy manual related to training and certifications at its meeting Aug. 17. 

The first change to the Employee Manual of Policies and Procedures, or EMoPP, is under the certification section for firefighters and EMS employees. Some language under the critical care paramedics guidelines will be changed to outline what certifications and courses the district requires. 

“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 change to the EMoPP under consideration 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 produce recordings. Hendricks said the change to the EMoPP would further clarify what those recordings are 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.” 

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

Hendricks reiterated to the board that the recordings are strictly for training. 

“We listen to those recordings, we start to identify trends and then we train on that,” Hendricks said. 

Because the changes affect the EMoPP, the district must meet and confer with the firefighters union before bringing any final recommendations before the board for a vote.