By Christi Budy
On May 19, Virginia Beach EMS received the American Heart Association 2017 Mission: Lifeline GOLD EMS Recognition Award at the Virginia Heart Attack Coalition (VHAC) state meeting in Lynchburg, Virginia.
This award recognizes EMS systems for their role in providing timely treatment for heart attack patients. Agencies must track various achievement measures, such as obtaining 12 lead EKGs, performing assessments and transporting in a timely manner and working with the hospitals to make the time from first medical contact to opening the blocked heart artery even faster.
Virginia Beach EMS remains very active with local hospitals, TEMS regional EMS council and Eastern Region of VHAC to work together to improve heart attack patient outcomes. Saving lives is a team effort!