Marietta, GA – MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Award for the fifth consecutive year for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks.
“We continue to dedicate time and provide the education and training resources necessary to ensure our medics are providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Pete Quinones, president and CEO. “We are pleased the American Heart Association, through Mission: Lifeline, recognizes our effort and achievements and our commitment to deliver the highest quality emergency medical care to our patients.”
Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction the deadliest type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication.
The Mission: Lifeline initiative provides tools, training and other resources to support heart attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines. Mission: Lifeline’s EMS recognition program recognizes emergency medical services for their efforts in improving systems of care to rapidly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify the medical center and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital personnel.
“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” said Tim Henry, M.D., chair of the Mission: Lifeline Acute Coronary Syndrome Subcommittee. “Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can save precious minutes of treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals to an incoming heart attack patient. We applaud MetroAtlanta Ambulance for achieving this award in following evidence-based guidelines in the treatment of people who have severe heart attacks.”
Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service is the designated 911 EMS provider for Cobb, Bartow and Paulding counties and serves a population of over a million.
The company also provides Basic and Advanced Life Support Ambulance service and Critical Care Transport service to seven health systems and more than 28 hospitals throughout Georgia. MetroAtlanta Ambulance is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services and the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems.