REMSA Dispatch center earns reaccreditation from international academies of emergency dispatch
Reno – The Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority (REMSA) earned reaccreditation as an Emergency Medical Dispatch Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) last month from the Board of Accreditation of the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED).
REMSA retains the distinguished honor of being the 54th Emergency Medical Dispatch Accredited Center of Excellence in the world. An ACE accreditation is the highest distinction in 9-1-1 emergency communications services. There are only 147 accredited centers around the world. In 2001, REMSA was the first in the state of Nevada to be accredited and was the state’s only ACE dispatch center until 2015; they remain one of only three in the state and will maintain this accreditation through 2019.
“The REMSA team is proud to provide emergency medical dispatch services to the northern Nevada community,” said Dow. “Accredited Centers of Excellence are required to meet and maintain rigorous standards. Our medically trained and certified communications specialists are often referred to as the region’s ‘first, first responders’ since they are trained to provide standardized, evidence-based, over-the- phone instructions while REMSA and our first responder partners respond.”
REMSA achieved reaccreditation from the IAED for their continued compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System and the associated “20 Points of Excellence” – a set of quality practice standards found in Emergency Medical Dispatch around the world. This sustained culture of operational effectiveness addresses system oversight, quality improvement programs and individual certification of all emergency call-takers. Comprised of four allied Academies for medical, fire, police and emergency communication nurse system dispatching, the IAED supports first-responder related research, unified protocol application, legislation for emergency call center regulation and strengthening the emergency dispatch community through education, certification and accreditation.
“REMSA is celebrating its 30 anniversary this year,” said Dean Dow, president and CEO, REMSA. “It’s remarkable to think that for 15 of those years, we’ve earned this distinctive accreditation honor.”
Another unique component to REMSA’s ACE-accredited Emergency Medical Communications center is its close connection to the ACE-accredited REMSA Nurse Health Line. A community resource program staffed by registered nurses, the Nurse Health Line is co-located within the REMSA Emergency Communication Center. This is the only dually accredited center in the world under one roof, meaning callers and patients are able to seamlessly access the right level of emergency response or care when they call REMSA.
About REMSA
REMSA is a private, not-for-profit emergency medical services system serving northern Nevada. REMSA’s state-of-the-art 9-1-1 dispatch communications center is fully accredited, as are all emergency medical transport services of the company. REMSA provides quality patient care with no taxpayer support or other subsidies.