Sioux Falls PatientCare EMS received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award for implementing life-saving practices for patients who experience severe heart attacks. Sioux Falls Police Department and Sioux Falls Fire Rescue were also honored.
Healthcare providers’ actions during the first few hours of a heart attack determine the patient’s level of benefit from intervention and treatment. Sioux Falls PatientCare EMS was honored for its efforts to improve the systems of care for patients with acute coronary syndrome, including both ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) heart attacks.
Every year, more than 250,000 people experience (STEMI) heart attacks, which are the most-deadly type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart. Patients with STEMI heart attacks require timely treatment for recovery, and EMS providers play a vital role in providing life-saving treatment.
Sioux Falls PatientCare EMS worked with its partners, Sioux Falls Police Department and Sioux Falls Fire Rescue, to enhance collaboration with hospital providers while treating high-risk patients, thereby enhancing the quality of care for STEMI heart attack patients.
“Mission: Lifeline® demonstrates our commitment to providing the best care to heart attack patients,” said Michael Bureau, chief operating officer of Sioux Falls PatientCare EMS. “We’re honored to receive this recognition, and will continue to implement life-saving practices.”
The 2019 Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Award recipients were evaluated based on criteria relating to the care of STEMI heart attack patients. Those that received the award demonstrated at least 75 percent compliance for each required achievement measure for two consecutive years, achieved a silver or gold award in the previous year, and treated with eight or more STEMI heart attack patients in 2018.
Mission: Lifeline is a coordinated, proactive system of care that turns first responders, hospitals and other healthcare providers into a team that uses proven guidelines and best practices to treat cardiac patients. The goal is to save lives by closing the gaps in STEMI heart attack patient care and providing innovative tools and measures to improve the speed and quality of care.
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 acute coronary syndrome patients. The program works by mobilizing teams across the continuum of care to implement American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology clinical treatment guidelines. For more information, visit heart.org.