Dubuque Fire Department Receives American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award

The Dubuque Fire Department has received the American Heart Association’s 2021 Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award  for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks.

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication.

Unfortunately, a significant number of STEMI patients don’t receive this prompt reperfusion therapy, which is critical in restoring blood flow. Mission: Lifeline® seeks to save lives by closing the gaps that separate these patients from timely access to appropriate treatments. The Mission: Lifeline® initiative provides tools, training, and other resources to support heart attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines. Mission: Lifeline’s EMS recognition program recognizes emergency medical services for their efforts in improving systems of care to rapidly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify the medical center and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital personnel.

“The Dubuque Fire Department is dedicated to providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Dubuque EMS Supervisor Samuel Janecke. “We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in emergency medical care efforts through the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline®.”

“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” said Tim Henry, M.D., chair of the Mission: Lifeline® Acute Coronary Syndrome Subcommittee. “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.”

This is the second year in a row the department has received the Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award. The Dubuque Fire Department has proudly provided emergency and non-emergency ambulance service in the Dubuque community since 1914. For more information on Dubuque Fire Department EMS, visit www.cityofdubuque.org/fire or call 563-589-4160.