Newsletter

WELCOM ABOARD

John Novak

Thomas L. Fowler

Carroll E. Prosser

TAPS

Charles Koch of Kansas

May he Rest in Peace

CHAPLAIN

Please let the Blind Chapter Chaplain know if you are sick, hospitalized or you know of one of our members who is.

Contact Reverend Anthony Martino

25016 87th Street, Unit 2

Salem Wisconsin 53168.

847 736 2111

Deaconmart@wi.rr.com .

“DAV NATIONAL CONVENTION”

REPORT FROM THE DAV NATIONAL CONVENTION”

The Blind Chapter elected officers for the current year at the 2^nd chapter meeting with the installation being conducted at the Annual Blind Chapter Breakfast.

Meet your new officers

Commander Eddie Humphrey

Senior Vice Commander Steve Moffit

1^st Junior Vice Commander Dan Holden

2^nd Junior Vice Commander Gerard Boucher

3^rd Junior Vice Commander Floyd Britting

4^th Junior Vice Commander Joe Link

Judge Advocate Buddy Spivey

Chaplain Tony Martino

Delegates elected by the membership of The Blind Veterans National Chapter have a busy schedule while at the convention. In addition to Blind Chapter meetings there are DAV National Business Sessions, Work Shops, special events and finally the delegates are all assigned to DAV National Convention Committees. The delegates have to attend all of the meetings held for the committee they are serving on.

Committee Assignments

Constitution & Bylaws	Dan Holden	Clyde Wyant
VAVS	Floyd Britting	Gerard Boucher
Legislative & Veterans Rights	Eddie Humphrey	Buddy Spivey
Nominations	Tony Martino	Joe Link

NEW MEMBERS

At the 1^st Chapter meeting we had several guests who came to find out what the Blind Chapter was all about.

Two of the guests were Thomas L. Fowler and Carroll E. Prosser. During the meeting they filled out and presented a membership application.

The Blind Chapter has been losing members and we need to keep recruiting members to replace our departed comrades. More important we need to reach out to those who need to be informed of blind rehabilitation and get the training and equipment they need to improve their life.

BLIND VETERANS NATIONAL CHAPTER WEB SITE

DAV National has come out with a new setup for Department and Chapter websites that are provided free of charge. These sites are great and DAV National updates a lot of National information on them. I am sorry to report that they will not be providing the Blind Veterans National Chapter with this service. The Blind Veterans National Chapter will continue with our current website at http://www.davbvnc.com. So please bookmark or keep this site as one of your favorites and check it on a regular basis. Blind Veterans National Chapter Newsletters are posted on this website.

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS

Years of Membership	Name
62	Ted Romig
62	Ken Toombs
55	Melvin Adams
53	Ken Davis
44	George Bianculli
44	George Pilz
44	James Strong
43	Rogelio Hernandez
42	Arnold Schrock
40	Walter Baker
40	Percy Barfield
40	John Fales
39	George McGrath
38	Joseph Carosella
37	Robert Dawson
37	Carl Foley
37	Robert Gabe
37	Paul Meray
37	Alfred Therrien
36	Dennis Wyant
35	Charles Anderson
35	Ira Clark

The Blind Veterans National Chapter is proud to recognize these disabled veterans for their many years of service to the Disabled American Veterans.

Please notify the adjutant about corrections or omissions.

New VA suicide Hotline

National Suicide Prevention Hotline Information

Purpose

The purpose of this is to raise awareness of the expectations relative to VA's National Suicide Hot Line being established in Canandaigua, NY and set for operational status Wednesday, July 25, 2007.

National Suicide Prevention Program

As part of VA's ongoing Suicide Prevention Program, VHA is developing a 24 hour national Suicide Prevention Hot Line - the opening of which will be announced soon. This VA Center will have the ability to access the medical record, document the call in the record and provide a consult to the local suicide prevention coordinator. The local suicide prevention coordinator can then ensure that follow -up and appropriate VA services are provided on an ongoing basis for this veteran. This will also provide an outreach opportunity for veterans in crisis who have not yet accessed VHA mental health services. This process is unprecedented in its ability to provide individualized and systematic follow up services. The Point of Contact for the Hot Line is Dr. Jan Kemp, Associate Director, VISN 2 Center of Excellence at Canandaigua. She can be contacted via Outlook or at 585 393 7939.

Initial Process

These initial process procedures have been communicated to your local Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC). The initial procedures and expectations, pending additional automation and access capability, are:

The following procedures are general outlines for the Rochester Lifeline Crisis Center staff.

Step	Procedure Description for Rochester Lifeline Crisis Center Staff on Enrolled Veterans
1	Receives call
2	Ascertains level of emergency of call
3	Acts on call by Arranging community rescue services, or Arranging immediate community referral, and Assuring caller that caller is not alone
4	At call's end: Notifies SPC by phone or Outlook at VA facility nearest to caller's residence *Note:*: No patient information will be sent via Outlook
5	Faxes information patient information to secure fax to veteran's preferred VA facility and/or closest VA facility.
6	Contacts patient to arrange: Follow up care Assures patient is safe

Suicide Prevention Counselor

The following procedures are general outlines for the Suicide Prevention Counselor.

Step	Procedure Description for Suicide Prevention Counselor (SPC)
1	Receives fax from Rochester Lifeline Crisis Center
2	Determines if patient is known (enrolled) to local VAMC and/or coordinates with Business office or equivalent office to invoke Register Once functionality as appropriate.
3	If referral is known (enrolled) follow locally established procedures (coordinated with local Chief, Health Information Management (HIM)) for scanning fax into patient's electronic medical record and the Mental Health Hotline Report note title of CPRS.
4	If referral is unknown (not enrolled), assist caller in contacting eligibility office during business hours or as soon after the call as possible to expedite health care/enrollment application.
5	If enrollment eligible continue care process.
6	If ineligible make/coordinate community referral

SPC Out of Office

If the SPC is out office during normal business hours for one day or longer, the SPC will:

Forward phone, or

Leave out of office message on phone answering service with contact referral

Leave out of office message on Outlook

Assure secured fax is attended for receipt of referrals

Coordinate with local medical center staff at a minimum to include:

Administrative Officer of the Day (AOD)

Medical Officer of the Day (MOD)

Emergency Department leadership

Chief, HIM

Clinical Applications Coordinator

Business Office or Eligibility staff

The following are general expectations for the Business Office or Eligibility staff.

Step

Procedure Description for Business Office/Eligibility Staff

Invokes Register Once functionality to update veteran's registration in local VAMC data base as appropriate.

As appropriate provides eligibility verification assistance (e.g. HINQ or VIS) to facilitate application for health care benefits.