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President's Message

Greetings to all NVSSAMT members from cold, snowy northern Nevada! I hope that 2008 has been a good year for all of you. I know the economy has finally been declared to be in recession and I’m sure that affects many of you. So far, our hospital has only eliminated overtime for all employees. And of course we have additional work to fit into our shifts.

We had a good meeting last September 18 here in Reno at the American Red Cross and at Career College of Northern Nevada with great instructors. We had a CPR class at the Red Cross, and two classes at CCNN; one on EKGs and one on coding. It was a good learning day. Afterward, we had a business meeting and a short board meeting. Your NVSSAMT Board Members will be meeting again in April, so be sure to contact any one of us before then if you have any concerns or issues you would like brought to our attention. Also, if there are any topics you would like to see at our next scientific meeting, be sure to let us know before April as well, since we will be planning for it then. My phone number and email are on this newsletter and on our website as well. This scientific meeting will be held next fall in Las Vegas. Be watching for the date in our next newsletter in the summer.

And the dates to keep on your calendar for the AMT National Meeting next year are June 22-26, 2009. It will be held in Minneapolis. Be sure to watch for more information either on AMT’s website or in one of AMT’s national publications. 2008’s National Meeting was in Providence, RI, and was a very good meeting. The classes were great as usual, as were the special speakers. Thursday night’s award banquet was an evening at the beach--complete with the occasional seagull landing on unsuspecting guests! It was nice to see deserving recipients receive their awards. We, your officers, are working hard to be an “Honor Roll” State Society. Please do contact us with ideas!

Thank you for allowing me to serve you this year!

Sincerely,

Juanita Stocke, MT (AMT)

NVSSAMT President

District Councilor's Message

Greetings Fellow Western District AMT Members,

It certainly did seem early to “spring forward” last weekend; but that just means there is a reason my daffodils are in bloom. I hope this finds you each eagerly anticipating your spring state meeting where you will plan for your trip to the 71^st Annual Convocation and Educational Meeting in Minneapolis, June 22 – 27 where we will celebrate AMT’s 70^th birthday! If you have not already starting looking for flights, it is time to do so. The sooner you book them, the more cost effective it will be. Also, this year you can register for the meeting on the new AMT website at www.AMT1.com. Check out your AMT Events for full information. The meeting promises to be very informative and exciting with our keynote speaker being Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot of US Airways flight 1549 that crashed into the Hudson River in New York on January 15, 2009. Educational speakers will include among others, providers from Mayo clinic. The Hilton Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport Hotel will be furnishing free transportation on a regular basis to and from the Mall of the Americas not only for shopping but to facilitate dining even though there will be ample sandwich shops and restaurants at the facility. There is free transportation to and from the airport via a hotel shuttle. Adjacent to the hotel and within walking distance is the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. All of this and continuing education and fellowship with your AMT family to boot! Come join us!

I have just returned from the AMT Board of Directors and Council meeting held in Charleston, SC; and would like to share a couple of updates we received while there:

1. If you have not visited the new AMT website, you really need to do so as it is really much easier to navigate and full of information for you the member. Soon to be posted on the website in the new member’s only section will be all the manuals and forms needed by a state society to conduct business. Also all the forms members need for renewal, continuing education, reinstatement, etc. will be posted along with vital hotkeys to sites to keep you current regarding legislative issues or just cruising through state publications. It is a very professional looking site and one AMT can be proud of.

2. Watch your Advance magazine for an article from AMT Executive Director Christopher Damon.

3. AMT is pleased to welcome our new Database Manager Karen Havlick, who has been working with us on a part-time basis.

4. There has been a change in the qualifications for joint state societies in that at least one state society must have a membership >250.

5. Presidents you will be receiving a new “quarterly report” form adding the AMT News Form and bank statement requirements to the checklist of reminders to help you make Honor Roll.

6. Everyone should be converting to the new AMT logo in your newsletters, journals and other communications. Please be sure and do not alter the logo. If you need the logo in template form, you can contact AMT Marketing Director Kathy Cilia. Also, all AMT brochures have been redone and are ready for use.

7. AMT Executive Director Christopher Damon announced we are now >43,000 strong and growing!

8. Congratulations to all award winners. I will not list them here because you may not have received your notification letters yet.

9. The 2010 meeting will be at the JW Marriott Resort in Las Vegas, NV, which is a 15 minute shuttle trip from the strip furnished by the hotel. The facility is beautiful!

10. Did you remember to celebrate National Medical Dental Week March 1 – 7? Don’t forget National Medical Laboratory Week April 19 – 25, 2009!

11. Many of you will soon be receiving your newsletters and journals electronically saving the state society’s postage and allowing you, the member, the ease of reading it when you want and storing it electronically without having stacks of paper product to worry about. Keep tuned for updates from your state society’s editor.

Hope to see you in Minneapolis,

Barbara Ware, MT (AMT)

Western District Councillor