Seven years running: Blount County AMR receives national stroke and cardiac care recognition

So, 7 years of incompetence in not moving from 'care' to RECOVERY?

This is the whole problem in stroke enumerated in one word; 'care'; NOT RECOVERY!

If your hospital is touting 'care' it means they are a failure because they are delivering 'care'; NOT RECOVERY! I would never go to a failed hospital!

YOU have to get involved and change this failure mindset of 'care' to 100% RECOVERY! Survivors want RECOVERY, NOT 'CARE'!

I see nothing here that states going for 100% recovery! You need to create EXACT PROTOCOLS FOR THAT!

ASK SURVIVORS WHAT THEY WANT, THEY'LL NEVER RESPOND 'CARE'! This tyranny of low expectations has to be completely rooted out of any stroke conversation! I wouldn't go there because of such incompetency as not having 100% recovery protocols!

RECOVERY IS THE ONLY GOAL IN STROKE! 

GET THERE!'

Seven years running: Blount County AMR receives national stroke and cardiac care recognition

Blount County’s American Medical Response division received the American Heart Association’s highly-coveted Gold Achievement award for excellence in cardiac and stroke-related emergency care(NOT RECOVERY!) Thursday.

Mission: Lifeline EMS is a part of the AMA’s Get with the Guidelines Program, an in-hospital, care(NOT RECOVERY!) improvement program which provides health professionals with enhanced technical, financial and educational support. Lifeline EMS specifically recognizes those organizations which meet or exceed the AMA’s in-field emergency treatment guidelines. To achieve a Gold ranking, an EMS provider has to have achieved an aggregated annual compliance rating of at least 75% across eight different standards.

This marks the seventh year in a row that Blount County AMR crews have been recognized at the national level for providing critical rapid response at or above AMA standards which regulate how fast a suspected heart-attack or stroke should be identified, medications administered and hospital personnel informed ahead of patient arrival.

“Our crews do truly great jobs responding in a timely manner and staying educated on the latest and greatest care(NOT RECOVERY!) standards,” said Blount County AMR Clinical Director Chris McClain. “We operate with two key mantras in mind: time is muscle, and time is brain. It’s crucial we’re identifying cardiac events and strokes quickly to minimize loss of heart muscle or neurons, and I’d say we have some of the best at that.”

In 2024, Blount County AMR responded to nearly 900 stroke and cardiac emergencies. With such volume, McClain said it’s imperative to keep crews fully staffed on full-time schedules and offer weekly training opportunities.

“You look just about anywhere in the country, most EMS organizations are understaffed,” said McClain. “And that’s when you start getting into burnout territory.”

To help combat that, Blount County AMR maintains a consistent training program which takes people “off the street” and gives them on-the-job training toward various certifications. This doesn’t just apply to AMR employees, either; the organization, McClain said, provides emergency first response and paramedic training to several of the area fire and police departments so that no matter who arrives first, there’s almost guaranteed to be someone with a level of aid training.

Internally, Blount County AMR also offers weekly training reviews on Sundays aimed at reinforcing foundational knowledge and introducing new practices.