By Joseph Knoop
Fishers Fire and Emergency Services has been awarded statewide recognition by the American Heart Association with an award for implementing quality measures that improve the treatment provided to patients suffering heart attacks, as well as exemplary response time.
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Award indicates that Fishers Fire and Emergency Services has demonstrated at least 75 percent compliance for standards set by the AHA for at least two years, with a minimum of eight ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction patients treated per year. Fishers Fire and Emergency Services was the only department in the state of Indiana to receive the Gold Award.
“There’s a great sense of pride in the fact that our people are out in the field, they can recognize a serious cardiac situation, treat it and get that person to the care needed to defend against a potentially devastating heart attack,” EMS Chief Steve Davison said.
Every year, more than 250,000 people experience a STEMI, a type of heart attack caused by a complete blockage of blood to the heart that requires immediate attention.
“Our standard response time from dispatch to cath lab is under 62 minutes. National average is 90 minutes and that’s the gold standard,” Davison said.
Chief Davison also believes that other factors, such as staffing and location, contributed greatly to earning the AHA’s Gold Award.
“Several factors are involved, one being our ambulances and fire engines,” Davison said. “We have paramedics on all of our ambulances and most of our fire engines, as well as the fact that we’re close to two cardiac hospitals.”
Fishers is located in relative proximity to Indiana University Saxony Hospital and Community Heart and Vascular Hospital.
Chief Davison added that the award lines up with the department’s initiative to protect the ‘heart’ of Fishers.
For more information, visit heart.org/missionlifeline.
