Richmond Ambulance Authority Receives its Second Consecutive Mission: Lifeline Gold Award for Rapid Treatment of Heart Attacks
Richmond, Va. – RAA has
received an American Heart Association Mission: Lifeline Gold Award for the
second year in a row for its excellence in rapidly treating heart attack
patients and improving patient outcomes.
Every year, more than 250,000 people
experience a STEMI, or ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction, a
type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart requiring
timely treatment. To prevent death, restoration of blood flow as quickly as
possible is critical. This is accomplished either by surgically opening
the blocked vessel or by giving clot-busting medication.
The role of EMS in the system-of-care for
these patients is crucial and often sets the course for the patient's outcome. Since
EMTs and paramedics are often the first medical point of contact, they can save
precious minutes of life-saving treatment time by calling a STEMI Alert to the participating
hospital, thus triggering an early response from the hospital’s STEMI
Center. Mission: Lifeline
strives to equip first responders with the most up-to-date evidence-based
treatment guidelines to help improve quality of care for patients and to improve
systems of care and patient outcomes in communities across the U.S.
RAA had to achieve a number of measures
outlined by the American Heart Association to achieve gold award level status. This includes ensuring a minimum of 75% of
its STEMI patients arrived at the hospital and received definitive treatment...
Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Richmond Ambulance Authority Tags: Administration and Leadership Industry News Source Type: news