By Laura EspositoPittsburgh Post-Gazette
HAMPTON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two emergency medical service agencies in Allegheny County have earned a national accreditation considered the gold standard for first responders.
The McCandless-Franklin Park Ambulance Authority and Ross/West View Emergency Medical Services Authority received national accreditation, which less than 1% of the 18,000 EMS agencies nationwide have earned.
“[The agencies] did it for the betterment of the communities they serve and the employees that work for them,” Allegheny County EMS Chief Matthew Brown said Friday at a ceremony at the county’s Public Safety Training Campus in Hampton Township.
The honor is issued by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, a non-profit organization made up of emergency medical and health care experts that tout the standard for quality patient care within medical transportation systems.
Both agencies’ response times, patient care, safety and training practices were evaluated for more than a year by CAAS reviewers to ensure they …