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Thursday, July 20, 2023 San Juan Regional Medical Center Honored for Heart Attack Care

San Juan Regional Medical Center is proud to announce we have received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold achievement award for our commitment to offering rapid, research-based care to patients experiencing a STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction), the most severe form of heart attack, and stroke.

To prevent death in these critical cases, it’s imperative to restore blood flow as quickly as possible. The Mission: Lifeline® program helps reduce barriers to prompt treatment every step of the way, starting from when 911 is called, to EMS transport, continuing through hospital treatment and discharge. 

“San Juan Regional Medical Center is honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association for our dedication to providing optimal care for heart attack patients,” said Jason Rounds, President and CEO. “As a community hospital, we are committed to implementing and sustaining a higher standard of care for our patients by ensuring that every STEMI patient receives treatment according to nationally accepted evidence-based guideline recommendations and standards.”          

The Mission: Lifeline EMS achievement award recognizes and honors the collaboration and contributions EMTs and paramedics bring to patient care as pre-hospital providers. Being able to provide this high quality of care is a coordinated effort and EMTs and paramedics play a vital role in the system as the first point of medical contact. 

“We like to tell patients to survive, don’t drive. Call 911,” Eric Christensen, EMS Manager said. “Our first responders can begin treatment when they arrive, which can be up to an hour sooner than if someone goes to the hospital by car. They can also provide resuscitation in cases where it’s needed.”

San Juan Regional Medical Center has earned gold recognition from the American Heart Association consistently since 2016. This year, we are also honored to be recognized for the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline System of Care Target: Heart Attack Honor Roll award, which focuses on the entire system of care for patients. This award highlights the collaboration and contributions of both pre-hospital and hospital providers. This time-critical award level recognizes those agencies that provide patient transport to STEMI-receiving and STEMI-referring centers.

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