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Its outstanding service is paying off big dividends for the South Pasadena Fire Department.
For the second straight year, the American Heart Association and LA County Department of Health Services has presented the Gold Standard Plus Award to the South Pasadena Fire Department for demonstrating success in applying the most up-to-date evidenced-based treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes for local residents.
The high honor was recognized during last week’s City Council meeting by South Pasadena Mayor Robert Joe.
“It’s a reflection of the level of service we’re providing to the community in terms of paramedic services,” explained SPPD Fire Chief Paul Riddle. “They audited us quite often. All of our calls are tracked, especially the critical ones.”
The award is presented for implementing specific quality improvement measures at a regional level as outlined by the two agencies for treating patients. Among the calls that are monitored are for STEMI (ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction), the most severe type of heart attacks.
“It’s really important you get that one right – the most severe,” stressed Riddle. “You recognize it. You treat it and you get the person to the correct facility with a cardiac cath lab. The only way they are going to live is get them to the correct facility and into surgery immediately.”
The South Pasadena Fire Department was 100 percent in recognizing the most critical heart attacks. “They look at transport times, your audit, all those factors,” he said. “When you achieve all those high levels you get the Gold Standard Award.”
Proud of the award? “Absolutely,” said Riddle. “It’s a reflection of the commitment we made to the community to provide a high level of customer service and all-risk fire protection.”
