Christiansburg Rescue recently received an EMS Gold Plus Award from the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Recognition program.
The Gold Plus award is the program’s highest achievement award and recognizes EMS agencies for providing quality, pre-hospital emergency care and implementing improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks. This the third consecutive year Christiansburg Rescue has received the Gold Plus distinction.
The Gold Plus award means Christiansburg Rescue maintained a performance score of at least 75 percent in each of four measures set by Mission: Lifeline during a 24-month period. Mission: Lifeline is a proactive system of care that unites first responders, hospitals and other healthcare providers into a team that uses best practices to treat patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome, including both STEMI and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) heart attacks.
These tools, training and practices allow EMS providers to rapidly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify medical centers and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital personnel. The goal of Mission: Lifeline is to help save lives and improve patient outcomes, from symptom onset all the way through cardiac rehabilitation.