CAAS Accredits 19 Agencies in March 2008

CAAS Panel of Commissioners grants accreditation to five new agencies and awards re-accreditation to 14 agencies

CAAS Accredits 19 Agencies

Five ambulance agencies gained CAAS accreditation from the CAAS Panel of Commissioners during its March 2008 meeting.  They are American Medical Response San Joaquin County, Stockton, Calif.; Patriot Ambulance, Burton, Mich.; Columbus Regional Hospital EMS, Columbus, Ind.; American Medical Response Southwest Mississippi, Natchez, Miss. and Medic Ambulance, Vallejo/Sacramento, Calif.

The panel also took action and granted re-accreditation to the following 14 agencies, including; City of Henderson Fire Department, Henderson, Nev.; Northglenn Ambulance, Northglenn, Colo.; Rural Metro Medical Services-Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.; Cherokee Nation EMS, Tahlequah, Okla.; Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority (REMSA), Reno, Nev.; Huntsville EMS, Inc. (HEMSI), Huntsville, Ala.; and Mobile Medical Response, Saginaw, Mich.

Also recognized for re-accreditation were the following: Apex EMS, Inc., Apex, N.C.; Village of Oak Park Fire Department, Oak Park, Ill.; Eagle County Ambulance District, Edwards, Colo.; Alamo EMS, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Medshore Ambulance Service,  Anderson, S.C.; EMC Emergency Medical Care, Inc., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and WestCare EMS, Sylva, N.C.

The CAAS-accredited agencies appear on the CAAS Web site Google map at www.caas.org. The site also allows the viewer to ask and receive answers to frequently asked questions about accreditation, view in-depth profiles of CAAS-accredited agencies and register for CAAS seminars and events online.

There are currently 112 CAAS-accredited agencies in 35 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, Nova Scotia and Alberta.  More than 100 agencies are working on new applications. The CAAS Panel of Commissioners meets quarterly to consider submissions from those agencies which are seeking three-year accreditation for the first time and those seeking three-year reaccreditations. Dates for the panel meetings for the balance of 2008 are June 2, September 15 and December 8.

About CAAS: 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.

For more information contact:
Sarah L. McEntee
Executive Director
Phone: (847) 657-6828
Fax: (847) 657-6825
Email: sarahm@tcag.com