CRANBERRY TWP — The township’s emergency medical service recently received the highest level of certification given by the state for pediatric care and transport. It is only the fourth agency in Western Pennsylvania to receive it.

Jeff Kelly, EMS executive director, said his organization voluntarily went through the yearlong process of becoming certified, mostly because the median age of a Cranberry resident is about 38-years-old.

There is an abundance of younger children living in the township, Kelly said, which is the biggest reason EMS wanted to get certified.

About 8 percent of its annual calls are for pediatrics, Kelly said. Most of those involve moving children from UPMC Passavant Cranberry to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Called the Pediatric Voluntary Recognition Program, the certification is administered by the state’s Department of Health, the Bureau of EMS and the Pennsylvania Health Services Council.

Tom Winkler, project director for the EMS for Children program run by the Health Services Council, was present at a ceremony Friday morning at EMS headquarters on Route 19. Winkler presented Kelly and his service with a certificate and stickers that will be put on the ambulances with the slogan “Prepared for pediatrics.”

To become certified, staffers at the EMS had to undergo more intense background screenings, while the organization also had to buy more equipment tailored to pediatrics. Employees at the EMS also had to undergo increased educational requirements to receive the certification.

“This was all voluntary,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t really open us up to grant funding or anything, but it’s an opportunity for us to put ourselves in this elite category. It’s an additional amenity for folks looking to move here.”

Cranberry last year was rated as the best place in Pennsylvania to raise children, according to a national publication. That designation was another factor for EMS officials who already were interested in obtaining the certification.

“It’s just one more thing we can do to show our commitment to the community and how important it is,” Kelly said. “We chose to up the ante and better ourselves internally.”

The state created the certification to recognize EMS agencies that go above current requirements to deliver top-notch medical care to children.

Eagle Staff Writer Joe Genco contributed to this story.