Johnson County’s EMS System has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold achievement award for its commitment to offering rapid and research-based care to people experiencing the most severe form of heart attacks and strokes, ultimately saving lives.

Mission: Lifeline EMS® is the American Heart Association's national initiative to advance the system of care for patients with high-risk, time-sensitive disease states, such as severe heart attacks and strokes.

The program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment — starting from when 911 is called, to EMS transport and continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. Optimal care for heart attack and stroke patients takes coordination between the prehospital providers and healthcare systems.

The Mission: Lifeline EMS achievement award focuses on agencies’ on-scene care, bringing to the forefront the collaboration and contributions to patient care for prehospital providers.

“The Johnson County EMS System is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Melody Morales, Program Manager, Office of the Johnson County Medical Director. “The Mission: Lifeline program puts proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis, so patients have the best possible chance of survival.”

Additionally, the Johnson County EMS System has also been recognized with the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline System of Care Target Heart Attack award, focused on the system of care for patients.

This award highlights the collaboration and contributions of both prehospital and hospital providers. This time-critical award level is limited to those agencies that provide patient transport to ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI)-receiving and STEMI-referring centers.