CRANBERRY TWP — The township's emergency medical services organization was honored Thursday for providing a high level of care for patients in cardiac arrest.

During a meeting of the township supervisors, the EMS was awarded with a Silver Plus EMS award by the American Heart Association for its continued involvement in the association's Mission Lifeline-EMS program.

According to Kelly Macheska, vice president of quality improvement for the American Heart Association's Pittsburgh Metro office, agencies participating in the program must follow a series of treatment guidelines to improve patient care and outcomes for those experiencing sever heart attacks, or ST elevation myocardial infarction. STEMI is the deadliest type of heart attack and is caused when blood flow to the heart is blocked.

She said the Silver Plus award signifies the EMS has implemented strategies that enable them to quickly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify a nearby medical center and trigger early response from waiting hospital personnel.

Cranberry EMS' success in treating those in cardiac arrest is 50 percent, according to a report by the national Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival. The national average of 36.5 percent.

The Silver Plus award is given to 497 organizations nationally, and just 57 in Pennsylvania.

Read the full story in The Cranberry Eagle.