CUHMA Committees

Committee terms of reference

1. The Board of Directors (BOD) may establish Standing Committees and ad hoc committees as it deems necessary or dissolve these committees at any time by simple resolution of BOD.
2. The Chair and members of each committee are appointed by the President with input from the BOD, except as otherwise stated below.
3. The Chair of each committee or their alternate is responsible for arranging meetings and providing reasonable notice to committee members.
4. The Chair or any committee member that has concerns about the committee is expected to notify the President or other BOD member.
5. The BOD may accept, reject or amend any recommendations from committees.
6. The BOD can change the membership of any committee at any time by a simple resolution of BOD.
7. Committee members must comply with the BOD Code of Conduct, complete the annual Conflict of Interest Declaration and comply with all policies related to harassment, intimidation, discrimination and misconduct.
8. The BOD may permit Committees to establish sub-committees for specific defined purposes.
9. Committee membership must take account of geographic distribution, clinical and academic factors, gender, regular and associate members, conflict of interest.
10. Each committee must submit a report of its meetings or activities prior to BOD meeting as requested by the President or BOD.
11. Committee Chairs are responsible for calling meetings, coordinating activities and reporting to the BOD.
12. The President shall be an ad hoc member of every committee that they are not a regular member of.
13. The required Committees are set out below.

---

Executive Committee

CHAIR: ...

Members:

• Geoff Zbitnew (President)
• Caroline Bain (Vice-President)
• Kaighley Brett (President-Elect)
• Neal Pollock (Secretary)
• Julie Malone (Treasurer)
• Jay MacDonald (Past-President)

Composition:
President, Vice-President, President-elect, Secretary, Treasurer, Past-President

Duties:

• Review conflict of interest declarations
• Strategic planning
• Operations and staffing
• Review any concerns of harassment, intimidation or misconduct and appoint and investigate as deemed appropriate. This may include appointing a review and appeals committee.
• Ensure compliance with the by-laws and applicable legislation and regulations
• International relations
• Government and health authority relations

Chair Statement: 

The Executives have made it their priority to further grow CUHMA into a strong professional organization that contributes, both nationally and internationally, to the education, research and professional development of hyperbaric and diving medicine professionals. We encourage all CUHMA members to participate in our committees so we can all benefit from the depth of knowledge and experience we share as a community.

---

Finance, Budget and Membership Committee 

CHAIR: Julie Malone (CHT, NS) 

Members: 

...

 

 

Duties:

• Chaired by Treasurer
• Reports to every BOD meeting or as requested by the BOD
• Prepares budgets
• Oversees all financial matters
• Administers membership
• Maintaining and following membership policies

Chair Statement: 

Is dedicated to its membership to maintain fiscal responsibility, use stewardship, and implement innovative and collaborative methods to build CUHMA’s membership base.

---

Communication, Website and Publications Committee

CHAIR: Neal W. Pollock

Members:

• Jay MacDonald (MD, ON)
• Caroline Bain (MD, AB)

Duties:

• Liaise with management and the finance, budget and membership committees
• All communications with CUHMA membership and the public
• Organizes and maintains the website and any publications

---

Standards of Practice - Hyperbaric Medicine Committee 

CHAIR: Dr. Caroline Bain (Pro-Tem)

Two Sub-committees:

1. Hyperbaric Facility Accreditation, Recognition and Safety Subcommittee

CHAIR: ...

Members:

• Caroline Bain (MD, AB)
• Jay MacDonald (MD, ON)
• Geoff Zbitnew (MD, NF)

Duties:

• Advises the BOD on all matters related to facility accreditation, recognition and safety

Chair Statement:

When CUHMA was incorporated in 2015, one of the pillars of our organization and indeed part of our bylaws, was the establishment of an accreditation program for hyperbaric facilities to ensure they meet the highest standards of care and patient safety. This would be accomplished by an evaluation of facility, equipment, staff and training. 

CUHMA accreditation requires acceptance and recognition by the provincial ministries of health and medical colleges and considerable funding. 

2. Clinical Guidelines

CHAIR: Geoff Zbitnew (MD, NL)

Members:

Duties:

• Considers clinical standards of practice and ethics
• Responsible for producing clinical guidelines

Chair Statement: 

Our mission is to provide up to date clinical practice guidelines for appropriate indications for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. We will use the best evidence available, whilst seeking input from Canadian and international sources.

---

Standards of Practice - Diving Medicine Committee

CHAIR: Joanne Provencher (MD, QC) 

Two sub-committees:

1. Recreational, Technical and Freediving Subcommittee

CHAIR: Geoff Zbitnew (MD, NF)

Members:  

• Caroline Bain (MD, AL);
• John Fitz-Clarke (MD, NS)
• James Whelan (MD, NF)

Duties:

• Liaise with training agencies
• Considers diving medicine standards
• Make recommendation about fitness to dive

2. Occupational, Scientific, Public Safety and Military Diving Subcommittee

CHAIR: Mike Hatcher (MD, ON) 

Members:

• Hafeez Jamal (MD, ON)
• Kaighley Brett (MD) 

Duties:

• Considers diving medicine standards
• Make recommendations about fitness to dive
• Liaise and provide input to CSA diving and hyperbaric committees
• Participate in international activities related to diving medicine

Chair Statement:

CUHMA as an organization is dedicated to helping develop and establish the highest standards of safety and practices for those involved in occupational dive work across the full spectrum of diving environments. To that end, it has established the Subcommittee on Occupational, Scientific, Public safety and Military Diving. This Subcommittee is comprised of stakeholders with a broad and in depth knowledge of commercial/ occupational diving, diving medicine, both civilian and military. Combined the members have close to 100 person years of experience in the field. 

Our aim is to review, based on evidence and experience, diving practices and liase with provincial and federal regulatory bodies to make recommendations to improve the safety of all who work in or with underwater/pressurized environments. 

Our mission is to help develop the highest standards of practice for all, to be a resource of information and support for all in the industry, and advocate for wellbeing of divers and pressurized environment workers.

---

Research, Education and Professional Development

CHAIR: ...

Members:

• Sylvain Boet (MD, ON)
• Kaighley Brett (MD)

Duties:

• Educational and professional development programs for all categories of CUHMA membership
• Organization of the annual meetings
• Promotes high quality research
• Research ethics

---

Awards Committee

CHAIR: George Harpur (MD, ON)

Members:

• Ron Nishi (MASc, ON)
• Josh Boisvert (CHT, QC) 

Duties:

• Makes recommendations to the BOD on awards
• Solicit nominations for the awards six months prior to the annual general meeting
• Report recommendations to the board at least six weeks before each annual general meeting

---

Governance and Elections Committee

CHAIR: Paul Cervenko (ON, MD)

Members:

• Jay Macdonald (MD, ON)

Duties:

• Maintaining and following election policies
• Organization of all matters related to CUHMA elections

Chair Statement: 

The Governance and Elections Committee assists the Board and Executive on how to best fulfill CUHMA's responsibilities as a non-profit corporation, and advise on CUHMA's operationalizing its mandate for its members.  It's much more interesting than the name implies, with development of conflict of interest guidelines, advice on appropriate use of assets, and impartial oversight of CUHMA elections. CUHMA, as a relatively new and growing association, can rely on the Committee having an outsized impact on fair interpretation and application of CUHMA's founding by-laws, and can identify changes on which the membership can consider and vote.