Times Record
FORT SMITH, Ark.— Cherokee Nation Emergency Medical Services this week achieved re-accreditation for three years from the independent Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, according to a tribe news release.
The EMS service remains in the top 1 percent of ambulance services for meeting the highest standard of care, the release states.
“The re-accreditation means Cherokee Nation EMS meets the gold standard in the ambulance industry. We have elite personnel and equipment that operate efficiently and effectively to save lives. Our citizens deserved a health care system that is world-class, and the Cherokee Nation’s emergency medical team has proven to be just that,” Principal Chief Bill John Baker stated in the release.
According to tribe literature, the state-licensed, Cherokee County-based EMS service’s more than 1,000 square miles encompassing northern Sequoyah, Cherokee, western Adair and southern Delaware counties. It employs 54 people and keeps four ambulances active at all times. The service responded to more than 4,500 emergency calls in 2013.
In 2005, Cherokee Nation EMS became the first Oklahoma ambulance service and the first tribal service to be accredited by the commission, the news release states.