St. Luke’s Emergency & Transport Service Receives American Heart Association Award

St. Luke’s Emergency & Transport Service (SLETS) received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Plus Award for implementing quality improvement measures in the treatment of patients who experience the most dangerous form of heart attacks.

Rodney Wolfe, Monroe County Operations Supervisor for SLETS, accepted the award during a presentation at the Pocono Township Municipal Building in Tannersville. Wolfe was joined by Don Seiple, President of St. Luke’s Monroe Campus, and Carol Kuplen, President of St. Luke’s-Bethlehem and Chief Nursing Officer.

Front row, from left: Don Seiple, President of St. Luke’s Monroe Campus; Rodney Wolfe, Monroe County Operations Supervisor for SLETS; Carol Kuplen, President of St. Luke’s-Bethlehem and Chief Nursing Officer

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This is the second year in a row that SLETS – which provides Basic and Advanced Life Support Emergency Medical Services to communities in Bucks, Lehigh and Monroe counties – is receiving an AHA Mission: Lifeline® award.

Last year, SLETS received the Bronze Award. This year, the EMS team achieved the Gold Plus Award for providing exceptional cardiac care to the residents of the Lehigh Valley and Poconos. The Gold Plus Award validates that SLETS team members maintain a high standard of care in recognizing, identifying and treating a pre-hospital cardiac event.

Agencies receiving the Mission: Lifeline® Gold award have demonstrated at least 75 percent compliance for each required achievement measure for two years.

More than 250,000 people each year experience the deadliest type of heart attack – an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) – which is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart. 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.

“We are pleased to be recognized for our dedication and achievements in emergency medical care for all cardiac patients,” Wolfe said.

SLETS is dedicated to making its service among the best in the country, and the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® program is helping accomplish that by implementing processes and recognizing emergency medical services for improving systems of care with the goal of improving the quality of care for all acute coronary syndrome patients.

“EMTs and paramedics play a vital part in the system of care for those who have heart attacks,” said James Jollis, M.D., Chair of the Mission: Lifeline Advisory Working Group. “Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can shave precious minutes of life-saving treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals. We applaud St. Luke’s Emergency & Transport Service for achieving this award that shows it meets evidence-based guidelines in the treatment of people who have severe heart attacks.”

Emergency Medical System providers are vital to the success of Mission: Lifeline®. EMS agencies perform 12-lead ECGs which measure the electrical activity of the heart and can help determine if a heart attack has occurred. They also follow protocols derived from American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines. These correct tools, training and practices allow EMS providers to rapidly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify the medical center, and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital personnel.

Media Contact:

Sam Kennedy, Corporate Communications Director, 484-526-4134, samuel.kennedy@sluhn.org

About St. Luke’s

Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a non-profit, regional, fully integrated and nationally recognized network providing services at seven hospitals and more than 270 outpatient sites. The network’s service area includes Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, Schuylkill, Bucks, Montgomery, Berks and Monroe counties in Pennsylvania and in Warren County in New Jersey. Dedicated to advancing health education, St. Luke’s operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing and 23 graduate medical educational programs and is considered a major teaching hospital, the only one in the region. In partnership with Temple University, St. Luke’s created the region’s first Medical School. Repeatedly, including 2017, St. Luke’s has earned Truven’s 100 Top Major Teaching Hospital designation as well as 50 Top Cardiovascular program in addition to other honors for clinical excellence. St. Luke’s is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of St. Luke’s information technology applications such as electronic medical records, telehealth, online scheduling and pricing information. St. Luke’s is also recognized as one of the state’s lowest cost providers in comparison to major teaching hospitals and other health systems.