Cetronia Ambulance Corps has received the American Heart Association’s 2017 Lifeline EMS Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award for quality improvement performance in the treatment of patients who have suffered severe heart attacks.

Less than 1 percent of emergency medical service agencies in the U.S. achieve Gold Plus status, the AHA’s highest award category.

The AHA recognizes the critical lifesaving role EMS provides to the overall success of care for patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction, a severe heart attack caused by a blockage of blood to the heart.

According to the AHA, more than 250,000 people annually experience a STEMI.

Rapid intervention to restore blood flow is critical to saving their lives.

Cetronia’s AHA performance award is for EMS providers, who for 24 consecutive months, achieved 75 percent or higher compliance score for each STEMI electrocardiogram care protocol followed within 10 minutes of being by a patient’s side.

“Our organization is proud to be recognized with this measure of life-saving excellence,” Cetronia CEO Larry Wiersch said. “Performance improvement is a continuous process and it requires an uncommon level of commitment from our professionals and constant reinvestment in technology.

“This award is testimony to the dedication of Cetronia’s people and the community support that keeps us one of the best performing EMS teams in the nation.”