The East Providence Fire Department has once again received the American Heart Association’s annual Mission: Lifeline Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Gold Award as well as being named to the organization's yearly Target Heart Attack honor roll.

The Mission: Lifeline EMS recognition, presented in 2024, is based on 2023 data and marks the addition of required stroke measures. With the new recognition program structure, eligibility was available for transporting and non-transporting prehospital agencies of which the EPFD is considered.

As has been the case the last several years, the EPFD has been recognized for the quality of care for heart attack and stroke patients in and around the city at the scene or en route before reaching hospital.

The Heart Association's focus for presenting the award is to "transform" the quality of heart attack and stroke care components into a "seamlessly integrated system," the key components of which are to "reinforce evidence-based guidelines and measure performance, identify gaps and engage in quality improvement."

To earn the AMA's Target Heart Attack Honor Roll designation an agency must first meet the criteria of the Mission: Lifeline EMS Prehospital award, which, of course, the EPFD did with its Gold level nod.

The Target Heart Attack criteria focuses on the coordination of care between prehospital agencies like the EPFD and the destination hospital, for severe heart attacks known in the professional as a ST-elevation myocardial infarction or "STEMI." It's a time-critical award level presented to agencies that provide patient transport to STEMI-receiving and STEMI-referring centers.

For more information about the awards the EPFD received and American Heart Association in general visit Heart.org/MissionLifeline.