CAAS Newsletter – December 2016

Happy Holidays to all our EMS colleagues

On behalf of the CAAS Board of Directors, the Panel of Commissioners and the CAAS staff, we want to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.  We want to thank all of our accredited agencies and site reviewers for their devotion to quality in the EMS industry. Accreditation is a wonderful demonstration of the commitment you make to your patients, your employees and your community every day of the year.

Recent CAAS Accreditations

In December, the CAAS Panel of Commissioners granted CAAS accreditation to four new agencies:

• Advantage Ambulance, Inc. (National City, CA)
• Montgomery County Hospital District EMS (Conroe, TX)
• South County EMS (Vicksburg, MI)
• Tri-City Ambulance (St. Charles, IL)

Additionally, the following four agencies were granted re-accreditation:

• Care Ambulance Service, Inc. (Orange, CA)
• City of Henderson Fire Department (Henderson, NV)
• Huntsville Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (Huntsville, AL)
• Stamford Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (Stamford, CT)

In October, the CAAS Panel of Commissioners granted CAAS accreditation to two new agencies:

• Cavalry Ambulance (Corona, CA)
• Paramedics Plus (Sioux Falls, SD)

Additionally, the following nine agencies were granted re-accreditation:

• American Medical Response (Arlington, TX)
• Emergency Medical Care Inc. (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia)
• Emergency Medical Services Authority (Tulsa, OK)
• Loveland-Symmes Fire Department (Loveland, OH)
• Medic Ambulance (Vallejo, CA)
• Medical Transport LLC (Virginia Beach, VA)
• Medshore Ambulance Service (Anderson, SC)
• Metropolitan EMS (Little Rock, AR)
• Sedgwick County EMS (Wichita, KS)

Congratulations to all our initial and re-accrediting agencies for a job well done!

CAAS Ground Vehicle Standard (GVS) Continues to Gain Momentum

The CAAS Ground Vehicle Standard v.1.0 document went into effect on July 1, 2016 and we have seen a growing amount of interest in the new standard from ambulance service providers, ambulance builders and state regulators.  The list of organizations that recognize and support the new standard keeps growing.  The following organizations support CAAS GVS:

•   American Ambulance Association
•   Association of Air Medical Services
•   National Association of EMS Physicians
•   National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians
•   National EMS Management Association
•   National Association of State EMS Officials

Numerous ambulance manufacturers have applied for and been approved by GVS as Registered CAAS GVS Final Stage Ambulance Manufacturers.  These builders have satisfactorily completed the registration requirements, and are authorized to provide the CAAS GVS approved certification stickers and documents on the vehicles that they produce that are compliant with the standard.

The GVS staff has made numerous presentations to EMS groups and conferences nationwide. During a recent presentation to the Alabama Ambulance Association, the Alabama State EMS office announced to Mark Van Arnam that Alabama had approved CAAS GVS as an acceptable standard for ambulances in that state.

In addition, the Minnesota EMS Resource Board has approved an action to move Minnesota to the CAAS GVS Standard. They will now be moving this through their rule making process for implementation.

CAAS GVS is included in a new federally funded 7 part video series on ambulance safety and standards to be released by NIOSH in 2017.  Details on availability of this series will be included in a subsequent newsletter.

Please visit our GVS website at www.groundvehiclestandard.org for up-to-date information on GVS.

CAAS Physician Site Reviewers Needed

CAAS is currently seeking active EMS Medical Directors interested in serving as CAAS site reviewers.  If you know of a physician that might be interested in becoming a site reviewer, please contact the CAAS office at 847-657-6828 for additional information and application details.

Promote Your CAAS Accreditation Through the CAAS Website

Earlier this year, the CAAS website (www.caas.org) was completely revamped and redesigned with a modern look and responsive, mobile-friendly design. The new site is designed to illustrate the benefits of accreditation to those considering it, and to highlight agencies who have already achieved accreditation.

We requested that accredited agencies share photos of their agency in action and have received some great images that are now featured on the CAAS website.  We want to thank those agencies who have provided images to date, including; AMR of Nashua, Delaware County Emergency Medical Services, F-M Ambulance Service, Metro West Ambulance Service, National EMS, Inc., New Castle County EMS, Plano Fire Department, Puckett EMS, Sunstar EMS, and Williamson County Emergency Medical Services.

If you are an accredited agency, please consider sharing photos of your agency in action. We only require two things: every photo must have the CAAS logo visible somewhere in the photo and the agency needs to complete a photo release form.  If you would like to share one of your photos, please visit the site’s new Resource Center.

Stay Up to Date with CAAS Via Social Networking

Have you visited any of our social media networking sites yet?  CAAS is active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  Check in daily for the latest updates and announcements about CAAS and our accredited agencies.  Get advanced notice of upcoming seminars, events and webinar sessions.  Share some of your photos and accomplishments with others, and join in on discussions related to CAAS accreditation.  Visit our sites and share with others to help us grow!

Upcoming meetings for CAAS

CAAS will be attending and/or exhibiting at these upcoming meetings – please plan to stop by our exhibit booth.