The City of Southlake’s Fire Department recently received the Mission Lifeline Gold Plus recognition by the American Heart Association. The recognition program is to raise awareness and commend teams, hospitals, and healthcare providers for adhering to the guidelines for evidence-based care of ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) and other health related risk.
This award is the highest designation granted by the American Heart Association. For an agency to meet criteria, it has to reach over 75% compliance for several EMS measures. Recipients must surpass the Bronze and Silver before reaching Gold status. This will be Southlake Fire Department’s fourth consecutive year in row to achieve such an honor.
The Fire Department staff is trained to identify and treat a heart attack upon arrival, as well as revive someone if their heart has stopped. The quick response, acquiring an ECG in the field and collaboration with the hospital are critical factors in the treatment, safety and security.
“Receiving this award illustrates our high standards of serving the community,” City of Southlake Fire Chief Mike Starr said. “Our highly trained professionals work to protect Southlake so that residents can rest easy knowing that they are in capable and caring hands.”
The City continues to invest in the fire department to ensure staff is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and training. Earlier this year, the Southlake Fire Department received re-accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CPSE) through a comprehensive self-assessment and evaluation model that enables organizations to examine past, current and future service levels as well as internal performance metrics for best practice measures.
According the American Heart Association’s website, Mission Lifeline is national initiative to advance the system of care for patients with acute, high-risk, time sensitive, life threatening disease states such as STEMI Heart Attacks, Non-ST segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI Heart Attack), stroke and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
To learn more about the Southlake Fire Department, visit its website.
