August 27, 2015 meeting notes:  Fourteen club members attended.  We elected our officers, membership chairman and new at-large board member for 2015-16.


Our speaker was Mary Gilmore, NW MedStar Regional Membership Coordinator.  She explained that NW MedStar provides helicopter, plane or ambulance transportation for medical emergencies, as requested by first responders.  They respond with a critical care nurse/paramedic and respiratory therapist/EMT so they can "bring the ICU to the patient".  They also have special pediatric staff for patients up to age 8.  She explained that about 90% of their transports are from hospital to hospital, since the closest hospital may not be able to provide the care the patient requires.  In Washington  Harborview in Seattle is the only facility rated at the highest level of trauma care.  At the next level down are Sacred Heart in Spokane and one facility in Tacoma.   NW MedStar operates from bases in Tri-Cities, Spokane, Pullman-Moscow; Brewster, Moses Lake and Missoula, Montana and provide service into NE Oregon.  They also have reciprocal agreements with 7 other medical transporters Idaho, Nevada, California and Oregon.


She explained that the average transport cost is $25,000 but membership covers all costs not paid by insurance/Medicare.  Membership is $59/year (or $150/ 3 years) which covers the member and all family members who are eligible to be claimed as dependents on the member's tax return.   There is a group membership option:  if 10 or more group members pay through their group, the fees are $48/year or $126 for 3 years.  NW MedStar has about 45,000 members.

August 20, 2105 meeting notes:  Nineteen members heard a presentation from Beau Baldwin, head football coach at EWU.  He noted that scrimmages are beginning and they have to be monitored to avoid overtraining and exposure to unhealthy air due to large wildfires in the region.  He noted that the program emphasizes academic growth and (the entire EWU athletic program has averaged over a 3.0 gpa for 24 straight quarters) and social growth (how to respond to things that don't go right in the game and in life; how not to dwell on the past but learn from it and go forward).  He noted that the Big Sky has 13 league teams and one non-league team.  EWU's season has 12 games:  8 league games and 4 non-league. 

August 13, 2015 meeting notes:  Sixteen club members and one guest attended.  Our speaker was Todd Ableman, Director of Public Works for the City of Cheney.  He talked about water usage and production.  The city has 8 wells, one is being re-drilled and one is used exclusively for irrigating city parks.  Only 2 wells are normally used from November through March.   One possible solution to the current water shortage problem would be to use recycled water from the waste treatment plant to help irrigate city parks and school playing fields.  EWU is on a separate system but the city is intertied with EWU.

August 6, 2015 meeting notes:  Eighteen members attended.  Our scheduled guest speaker did not arrive so we discussed plans for the August 12 picnic to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kiwanis.  Margie Lindner noted that the Coats 4 Kids organizational meeting will be on August 27 and she will attend it. 

July 30, 2015 meeting notes:
Several Members of the East Spokane Kiwanis club visited, including incoming Lt. Governor Teresa Venne.  She gave information on the upcoming division conference in Portland. 
Our speaker was Kevin Robbins, retired US Army Sgt. Major and head of campus security at Community Colleges of Spokane.  He noted that they are a security department, not a police department; they carry tazers and pepper spray but no firearms.  He also talked about their emergency management plan and the reserve academy training that security staff receive. 

July 23, 2015 meeting notes:
Our speaker was Craig Howard from Spokane Neighborhood Action Program (SNAP).  This program serves Spokane county as well as the city.  It is well known for providing weatherization assistance and financial help for paying for utilities and it actually offers about 35 programs ranging from financial counseling to microlending for small business to having a long term care ombudsman program.  Their budget is around $22 million a year and typically about 18-22% of their budget is from donations.  They served 44,000 people in 2014.