By Holly Herman
Reading Eagle
BERKS COUNTY, Pa. — Four Berks County emergency medical services were honored Thursday for being among the best in the country at saving the lives of people suffering from heart attacks.
“Today we are celebrating the hard work and dedication of these EMS agencies,” Alexander Kuhn, senior director of quality and systems improvement for the American Heart Association, said before presenting the awards in a Reading Hospital conference room.
“The communities in Berks County should be very proud of their pre-hospital care professionals,” Kuhn said.
A standing-room crowd of more than 70 elected officials, health care professionals and emergency medical workers watched as Kuhn presented The Mission: Lifeline awards.
He presented gold achievement awards to Western Berks Ambulance Association and Southern Berks Regional EMS.
Reading Fire Department, which has an EMS division, received a silver performance achievement award, while Boyertown Lions Community Ambulance Service received a bronze performance achievement award.
The Mission: Lifeline awards are given to EMS crews based on how often chest-pain patients receive an electrocardiogram in transit to the hospital, and how long it takes severe heart attack patients to be treated and transported.
Kuhn said there are 20,000 emergency crews in the nation. Of those, he said, only 447 agencies, including 61 in Pennsylvania, receive Lifeline awards.
Dr. Charles F. Barbera, chairman of the emergency department at Reading Hospital, said the hospital was thrilled to host the event and thanked the EMS workers for prompt response.
“We make sure the patients are treated as quickly as possible,” Barbera said.
The crews transport patients to Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Bern Township as well as Reading Hospital.
“This is such a great honor,” said James R. Conrad, deputy chief of the Reading Fire Department.
Also expressing appreciation for the award were Ed Moreland, chief of operations at Western Berks; Malcolm C. Cole, executive director of Southern Berks; and Ashley J. Neubauer, chief of operations at Boyertown ambulance.
“We are really excited,” Neubauer said after the ceremony. “This is our first time getting the award. We hope to get it again.”
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©2015 the Reading Eagle (Reading, Pa.)