May 5, 2006 -- At their April 1, 2006, meeting, the CAAS Panel of Commissioners granted accreditation to three new agencies, including American Medical Response of Monroe, Louisiana; Tri-Community South EMS of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania; and Coastal Health Systems of Brevard, Inc., of Rockledge, Florida.

Six agencies received their full three-year accreditations, including Albuquerque Ambulance Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico; American Ambulance, Fresno, California; American Medical Response of Riverside, California; American Medical Response, San Bernardino, of Rancho Cucamonga, California; North Memorial Ambulance Service of Brooklyn Center, Minnesota; and Emergency Ambulance Service, Inc. of Brea, California.

There are currently 102 CAAS-accredited agencies in 32 U.S. states and Nova Scotia, Canada, with more than 200 agencies working on new applications.

Agencies wishing to learn more about the benefits of CAAS accreditation may register for the July 13th, 2006, seminar in Indianapolis, Indiana, being held in conjunction with the 2006 summer conference of the American Ambulance Association. For more information or to register on-line, check the web site at www.caas.org or write to CAAS, 1926 Waukegan Road, Suite 1, Glenview, IL 60025.

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The Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) was formed in 1990 as a not-for-profit agency to be a standard bearer for medical transportation systems. It is sponsored by the American Ambulance Association, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the National Association of EMS Physicians, the National Association of State EMS Officials, the National Association of EMTs, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs, with liaison representation from The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Accreditation signifies that ambulance services have met the “gold standard” determined by the ambulance industry to be essential in a modern emergency medical services provider.