Middletown fire department gets grant, national award

The Middletown Division of Fire recently received a Firehouse Subs grant and national recognition for its treatment of heart attack patients.

The department received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Award for implementing quality improvement measures for the treatment of patients who experience severe heart attacks.

Every year, more than 250,000 people experience an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the deadliest type of heart attack caused by a blockage of blood flow to the heart that requires timely treatment. To prevent death, it’s critical to restore blood flow as quickly as possible, either by mechanically opening the blocked vessel or by providing clot-busting medication.

The Mission: Lifeline initiative provides tools, training and other resources to support heart attack care following protocols from the most recent evidence-based treatment guidelines. Mission: Lifeline’s EMS recognition program recognizes emergency medical services for their efforts in improving systems of care to rapidly identify suspected heart attack patients, promptly notify the medical center and trigger an early response from the awaiting hospital personnel.

Dr. Tim Henry, chair of the Mission, said EMTs and paramedics play “a vital part” in the system of care for those who have heart attacks.

“Since they often are the first medical point of contact, they can save precious minutes of treatment time by activating the emergency response system that alerts hospitals to an incoming heart attack patient,” he said.

The Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation Board of Directors awarded the Middletown Division of Fire a grant for 80 pairs of gloves, 80 particulate hoods and two cases of Hero Wipes, all valued at $15,200.

The foundation is able to continue its mission of supporting local firefighters because thanks of donors and in-restaurant fundraising, $2 pickle bucket donations and spare change canisters; the Round Up Program, which allows guests to “round up” their bill to the nearest dollar; and the Firehouse of America Charitable Sales Promotion, in which FOA will donate a sum equivalent to 0.11 percent of all gross sales with a minimum donation of $1 million through December 2019.

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