When someone experiences a cardiac arrest, heart attack, or stroke, reliable communication between dispatch, paramedics, and the receiving hospital can be the difference between life and death. But as mobile technology, from telemedicine platforms to mobile stroke units, rapidly transforms emergency response, it can create critical gaps in the care system and tip lives out of balance.
In commemoration of National Emergency Week, the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone around the world, is launching an initiative to directly address these gaps and promote the optimal use of technology in emergency response care systems. The association will convene EMS agency leaders, hospital executives, and public health partners to identify where technology can be better used to fill critical gaps and develop recommendations to enhance future emergency response.
Through this initiative, supported by T-Mobile, the association will gather insights into emergency communication processes across government agencies in 13 cities.
- atlanta, georgia
- boston, massachusetts
- buffalo new york
- charlotte, north carolina
- Chicago, Illinois
- cincinnati, ohio
- cleveland ohio
- Detroit, Michigan
- houston texas
- Indianapolis, Indiana
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- San Francisco, California
This new initiative is integrated into the American Heart Association’s mission, the Lifeline® EMS Program, to help healthcare systems work better together. Mission: Lifeline EMS works with more than 1,000 EMS agencies to create an established national awareness and improvement network. The effort is part of the American Heart Association’s Nation of Lifesavers movement, which aims to double the survival rate from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest by 2030.
When communication breaks down in the chain of survival, people die. This initiative translates our national mission into market-level action and works with EMS leaders to improve care in real communities. The American Heart Association is uniquely positioned to lead this effort in its role as a national convener shaping the next generation of emergency response. ”
Dr. Casey Kronenfeld, FAEMS, American Heart Association EMS Task Force Volunteer Co-Chair
A national initiative led by local action
The American Heart Association will host regional care systems forums bringing together EMS leaders to identify and close communication and technology gaps in each of its 13 target markets. These forums, held in each city market, generate market-level insights that translate into national learning, comparative data analysis, and actionable improvement strategies.
The annual national roundtable, co-sponsored by the association and T-Mobile, will convene technology leaders from EMS agencies across target markets to shape the future of emergency communications systems.
“Connectivity saves lives. This is more than just a tagline for us,” said Rod Crews, vice president of growth and emerging business at T-Mobile. “Supporting the American Heart Association to improve the way paramedic teams, dispatchers and hospitals communicate is a natural extension of that effort.”
With funding from T-Mobile, the association will also work to expand participation in the Mission: Lifeline EMS certification nationally, encouraging more EMS agencies across the country to meet the program’s standards for guideline-based care in heart and stroke emergencies.
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american heart association
