LLUMC Honored with Resuscitation Recognition Award from American Heart Association

LOMA LINDA >> Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) has received the Get With The Guidelines®-Resuscitation Silver Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association (AHA) for the treatment of patients who suffer cardiac arrests in the hospital. Amy Alonso, regional director, American Heart Association, presented the award to Kelly Lumen, code blue process coordinator at LLUMC. “This is a prestigious award, “Alonso said on behalf of the AHA. “I congratulate the whole code blue team and doctors for their leadership.” More than 200,000 adults and children have an in-hospital cardiac arrest each year, according to the American Heart Association. The Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation program was developed with the goal to save lives of those who experience in-hospital cardiac arrests through consistently following the most up-to-date research-based guidelines for treatment. Guidelines include following protocols for patient safety, medical emergency team response, effective and timely resuscitation (CPR) and post-resuscitation care. LLUMC received the award for meeting specific measures in treating adult patients who suffer in-hospital cardiac arrests in the hospital. To receive this award a hospital must comply with the quality measures for one year. “Loma Linda University Medical Center is dedicated to helping our patients have the best possible outcomes,” said Ihab Dorotta, MD, physician champion for resuscitation at LLUMC. “This accomplishment would not be possible without the collaborative efforts of our clinical staff who are putting proven knowledge and guidelines to work on a daily basis.” “We are pleased to recognize Loma Linda University Medical Center for their commitment in following these guidelines,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and professor of medicine at Stanford University. “Shortening the time to effective resuscitation and maximizing post-resuscitation care is critical to patient survival.” Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation builds on the work of the American Heart Association’s National Registry of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, launched in 1999 and has collected in-hospital cardiac arrest data from more than 500 hospitals. Data from the registry and the quality program give participating hospitals feedback on their resuscitation practice and patient outcomes. The data also help improve research-based guidelines for in-hospital resuscitation.