WCAD Earns AHA “Gold Plus” Designation 2 Years In A Row

Washington County Ambulance District (W.C.A.D.) has been awarded the Mission Lifeline “Gold Plus” award from the American Heart Association for 2020.
WCAD has been recognized by the AHA Mission Lifeline as a Bronze in 2016, Silver in 2017, Gold in 2018 and Gold Plus, for the first time in 2019 and now again for 2020.

In order to achieve such a recognition, quality measures for cardiac and stroke patients must be tracked, met and achieved for multiple years in a row. The team at WCAD exceeded every requirement the AHA has set.
Mission Lifeline is the American Heart Association’s national initiative to advance the SYSTEM OF CARE for patients with acute, high-risk time sensitive life and/or quality of life-threatening disease states, such as ST Elevate Myocardial Infarction (STEMI Heart Attack), Non-ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI Heart Attack), Stroke and Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

The overarching goals of Mission: Lifeline are to bring stakeholders together in a collaborative manner and to reduce mortality and morbidity for these patients while improving overall quality of care and patient outcomes.
EMS Clinicians are often the first providers of care to patients suffering from cardiac emergencies and strokes. The role of EMS in the system-of-care for these patients is crucial and often sets the course for the patient’s outcome.

“WCAD is proud to take this responsibility seriously and ensure the quality of care provided to our patients is second to none. Treatment for these patients doesn’t start when you hit the hospital, it starts when our EMS Clinicians make contact in the patient’s home or on the side of the road.” said WCAD Administrator Duncan.

Duncan went on to say, “We have a great team and the District continues to strive to be on top of our education and our service.”