East Pierce Fire & Rescue Earns Nat'l Award For Response Times

BONNEY LAKE, WA — For once again maintaining an emergency response standard that largely surpasses the minimum requirement for treating heart attack victims, East Pierce Fire & Rescue was given a 2019 Mission: Lifeline EMS Recognition Gold Plus Award from the American Heart Association. It's reportedly the fifth consecutive year East Pierce Fire & Rescue received the distinguished service award.

Among the four measures required to earn the Mission: Lifeline EMS Recognition, EMS teams must maintain a 75 percent success rate for transporting cardiac arrest patients to hospital and seeing the patients' blocked arteries opened within 90 minutes of EMS arriving on scene. East Pierce Fire & Rescue crews reportedly maintained a 90 percent success rate.

"Considering the distance to the hospitals, this illustrates that our paramedics and EMTs are working quickly to determine that the patient requires such treatment," EPF&R Chief Bud Backer said in a statement. "Our people are doing an outstanding job providing this critical care to our citizens."

East Pierce was reportedly just one of four agencies statewide to receive the award. The Tacoma Fire Department and the Advanced Life Systems ambulance service in Yakima also received the Gold Plus Award, while Central Pierce Fire & Rescue received a Gold Award.