EDISON – Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Award for the sixth consecutive year for implementing quality improvement measures to treat patients who experience severe heart attacks.
The American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline initiative provides tools, training and other resources to support heart attack care according to protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines, according to information provided by Hackensack Meridian Health. Mission: Lifeline’s EMS recognition program recognizes Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center’s emergency medical services for its efforts to improve systems of care and to rapidly identify patients with suspected heart attacks, promptly notify the medical center, and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital care team.
“This prestigious AHA award reflects the high-quality emergency services provided by the Medical Center’s Emergency Medical Services team, and how they bring state-of-the-art cardiac care to patients even before they enter the hospital’s doors,” Dr. Saleem Husain, interventional cardiologist and medical director of the JFK Medical Center Cardiac Catheterization Lab, said in the statement.
The new lab offers expert, lifesaving care and cutting-edge technologies to treat the most complex and serious heart conditions.
Every year, more than 250,000 people experience the most life-threatening type of heart attack, an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), which is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart, requiring timely treatment that can be lifesaving. It is critical to restore blood flow in patients with this condition as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication, according to the statement.
“I am incredibly proud of our team’s dedication to outstanding patient care,” Mark Bober, director of Emergency Medical Services of JFK EMS, said in the statement. “By earning the AHA’s highest possible EMS honors six years in a row, JFK EMS continues to demonstrate our commitment to the highest standards of cardiac care in the communities that depend on us throughout the Hackensack Meridian Health Network. Thank you to our dispatchers, EMTs, paramedics, and nurses for once again achieving highest honors.”
“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” Dr. Tim Henry, chair of the Mission: Lifeline Acute Coronary Syndrome Subcommittee, American Heart Association, said in the statement. “Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can save precious minutes of treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals to an incoming heart attack patient. We applaud Hackensack Meridian JFK Medical Center for achieving this award in following evidence-based guidelines in the treatment of people who have severe heart attacks.”