SANTA BARBARA COUNTY EMS AWARDED LIFELINE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
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(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) — The Santa Barbara County EMS is, once again, nationally recognized for its commitment to providing high-quality cardiovascular care. Advanced Life Support (ALS) agencies within the Santa Barbara County EMS System have received the American Heart Association “Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline Achievement Awards” for demonstrating commitment to following up-to-date, researchbased guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke, ultimately leading to more lives saved, shorter recovery times and fewer readmissions to the hospital.
According to the Stroke Awareness Foundation, every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 5 causes of death in the United States, respectively. Studies show patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines.
“The Santa Barbara County EMS System is committed to improving care by adhering to the latest treatment guidelines and streamlining processes to ensure timely and proper care for heart attacks and strokes,” Nick Clay, Santa Barbara County EMS Agency Director. “The Mission: Lifeline and Get With The Guidelines programs make it easier for our teams to put proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, which helps us ensure more people in Santa Barbara County experience longer, healthier lives.”
This year, the American Heart Association modified their qualification process to recognize individual agencies rather than the system as a whole. As part of the new application process, agencies must meet certain volume requirements to qualify for the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines and Mission: Lifeline achievement awards. As a participant in both Mission: Lifeline / Get With The Guidelines programs, American Medical Response (AMR), Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District (CSFPD), and Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) qualified for the award(s) by demonstrating how their organization has been committed to improving quality care.
The Santa Barbara County EMS Agency works collaboratively with EMS/First Responders by providing ongoing clinical education, evaluation of high-risk skills and complex assessment training, in addition to ongoing system updates to the electronic documentation platform. All of these system implementations ensure not only the delivery of prompt and comprehensive patient care for EMS cardiac and stroke patients, but also the ability to capture critical information and integrate findings with local hospital centers to provide definitive patient care.
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This year, Santa Barbara County EMS System received these achievement awards:
- Mission: Lifeline ® EMS Gold Award
o American Medical Response (AMR)
o Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District (CSFPD)
o Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) - Mission: Lifeline ® Target: Heart Attack
o American Medical Response (AMR)
“We are pleased to recognize American Medical Response, Carpinteria-Summerland Fire
Protection District, Santa Barbara County Fire Department for their commitment to caring
for those in their community who need cardiovascular care,” said John Warner, M.D.,
FAHA, past president of the American Heart Association and CEO of The Ohio State
University Wexner Medical Center.
About Mission: Lifeline
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline program helps hospitals and emergency medical services develop systems of care that follow proven standards and procedures for STEMI patients. The program works by mobilizing teams across the continuum of care to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation clinical treatment guidelines. For more information, visit heart.org.
About Get With The Guidelines
Get With The Guidelines® is the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s hospital-based quality improvement program that provides hospitals with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal of saving lives and hastening recovery, Get With The Guidelines has touched the lives of more than 12 million patients since 2001. For more information, visit heart.org.