Are You Ready for NEMSIS Reporting? Part II
   The past 3 months have been busy with more and more states moving to reporting their data using the NEMSIS code set.  As of early June, seventeen states had submitted close to 5,000,000 EMS records to the national database since data collection began in 2007. Six more states will join this group in the next three months, followed by 12 more states before the end of 2009. Almost 75% of the nation could be participating in the NEMSIS reporting program by the end of the year. With so much going on, we felt it was important to continue our discussion of this topic in the newsletter.

   Most states have adopted a subset of NEMSIS with modifications. FH has adapted to meet the requirements of many states and will continue to meet the needs of the new states. Currently, FH has many state-specific NEMSIS code components available for download and installation. As the NEMSIS program grows nationally, we will continue to provide the data entry features necessary for each department's reporting needs.
    Our development team continues to review and work with new state-specific NEMSIS validation and compliance rules for future releases. As new states are processed and verified, their component files and instructions are posted to our website on a State-specific Information page. With the upcoming FH 7.5 maintenance release, the NEMSIS patient export is being enhanced to more clearly identify when a file will have validation problems at the state or national level. This change will warn an FH user when a file contains potentially invalid data, giving the user a chance to correct any invalid data before submitting the file to state. 
   In order to better communicate to our clients where the national program is and where we are heading, we are adding these new communication channels:

• An informational status chart to the NEMSIS page of the FH website. The chart contains state-by-state status for:
  • submitting FH data with the national export definitions only
  • submitting FH data with state-specific components independently installed
  • FH development in progress to meet the state level requirement
  • FH development planning underway.
• New Facebook and Twitter accounts to broadcast alerts when new files are released. Using the ever growing social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, announcements of new file releases will be sent out. Sign up with your preferred social network option.
• A new email address for clients, state coordinators and national directors to contact our NEMSIS team. FHNEMSIS@acs-inc.com will provide a single source location for clients to report NEMSIS problems and state coordinators to submit data collection definition changes.

   Since our initial commitment to the NEMSIS code set project, FH has promoted the NEMSIS national reporting standard. As a NEMSIS Gold Compliant Software, FH provides all active clients with the tools necessary to submit EMS incidents in a format that meets the national requirements. If your state is requesting NEMSIS data submissions, we recommend communicating with the state and informing them your department's FH setup is following the national guidelines while producing state-specific NEMSIS information as well.
   If you have questions, email us at FHNEMSIS@acs-inc.com or try one of our other new channels of communication. We look forward to continuing working with you in support of this national coding standard.

Register Now for the 2009 FIREHOUSE Software Education and Training Seminar!   
   Hotel and seminar registration for the 2009 FIREHOUSE Software Education and Training Seminar (FHETS) is underway. FHETS 2009 will be held Tuesday, October 13th through Friday, October 16th at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in the beautiful Orlando suburb of Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is located in  Disney's Animal Kingdom area of the Walt Disney World Resort. Click FHETS Registration or go to www.firehousesoftware.com/FHETS/FHETS_1.php to sign up.

   This year, we're continuing our $695 seminar price for the three day event. Hotel rooms will be available for $129/night, with this special event rate to extend 3 days prior and following the seminar based on guestroom availability. Breakfast, lunch, and between class snacks will be provided for the attendees during the seminar's 3 days. Other great attendee perks courtesy of the Disney's Coronado Springs Resort include:

• Free use of health club
• Free parking for hotel guests
• Complimentary local phone and long distance access from guest rooms
• Complimentary transportation to Disney Theme Parks and Downtown Disney
• Complimentary airline check-in and baggage at the hotel
• Complimentary airport transportation
• NEW Buy 2-Days, Get 2-Days Free Meeting/Convention based Theme Park Tickets

   For travel planning, check-in for FHETS will begin on the 13th at 2:00pm, followed by a welcome reception from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Breakfast will be served on the 14th at 7:00am, including our keynote speaker, and classes will begin at 9:15am. The last class will end at 5:00pm on the 16th.

    Twitter users can follow us for the latest news updates and activities at http://www.twitter.com/FHETS2009. If you have any questions, please contact our training coordinator at fhtraining@acs-inc.com. We'll see you in Florida in October!

NFIRS 5 January 2009 Specification Cycle Coming in the FH 7.5 Maintenance Release

   The release of the FH 7.5 maintenance release has been delayed to address specific recent NEMSIS updating features. This maintenance release will address the NFIRS January 2009 changes, most notably the canceled en-route time validation and Fire Spread in association with the Object of Origin for the Structure Fire section of a fire report. To bridge the time before the maintenance release can be sent to departments, an installable .FHz containing a system rule and browsing query has been created to assist departments. The system rule will require the correct Unit Action Taken code, and the browsing query will display previous incidents entered in 2009 needing to have the record edited. The .FHz file is available under the Downloads column on the FH Support page http://www.firehousesoftware.com/sup/index.php.

   Design documentation for the 2009 specification cycle, including specification changes and corrections, is available at http://www.nfirs.fema.gov/documentation/design/.