News & Media

Pro EMS Center For MEDICS Receives Accreditation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Pro EMS Center for MEDICS receives accreditation from the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) under the Department of Health, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for Its State of the Art Training for Emergency Personnel

Cambridge, Mass., January 2009 - Professional Ambulance Service (Pro EMS), one of the premiere providers of emergency medical services in Massachusetts, is pleased to announce that the company's Center for MEDICS has achieved accreditation from the state's Office of Emergency Medical Services. According to OEMS, accreditation is a signature of training excellence achieved through strict compliance to the highest standards. OEMS mandates accreditation compliance for all initial Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Paramedic training programs conducted in the Commonwealth.

The Pro EMS Center For MEDICS simulation lab for emergency medical services is the first fully functioning one in the Northeast, and includes emergency room and apartment settings for its patient care scenarios, computer systems that record every step a trainee takes in treating these manikin patients, and a video screen for trainees and instructors to watch and evaluate the handling of each patient care scenario. EMTs, paramedics, emergency room doctors and nurses, police departments, and military personnel across Massachusetts come to the Center for MEDICS for the latest in emergency medical training. The state-of-the-art lab also boasts lifelike adult, child, and infant patient simulators that can speak and demonstrate symptoms of illness and trauma.

"The six month process for OEMS accreditation promotes continuous self analysis that leads to improved EMT and Paramedic Training Programs," said Chris Kerley, Director of the Center for MEDICS. "We are thrilled to have completed and been awarded accreditation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

OEMS Accreditation enables EMT and Paramedic Training programs to help their graduates deliver the highest level of care to the public. Accreditation is both a status and a process. As a status, accreditation provides public notification that an institution or a program meets standards of quality set forth by an accrediting agency. As a process, it consists of ongoing evaluation, and frequent program improvement.

The Center for MEDICS trains staff from Professional Ambulance and the Cambridge Fire and Police Departments, as well as staff from other fire and police departments and doctors and nurses from area hospitals. The simulation center's programs include training on emergency medical procedures that are difficult to practice anywhere else because the equipment is not widely available.

The Center for MEDICS' mission is to assist EMS and other healthcare providers in their work to continuously improve through education and high fidelity patient simulation. For more information about the Center for MEDICS, visit www.centerformedics.com

About Professional Ambulance Service
Professional Ambulance Service (Pro EMS) provides emergency medical services to the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts in conjunction with the Cambridge Fire, Police, Emergency Communications and Public Health Departments. Additionally, Pro EMS provides emergency medical services to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professional Ambulance has proudly served the citizens, students, and visitors of Cambridge for over 35 years. For more information, visit www.proems.com.

Media Contact:
Christine Dunn
Savoir Media
cdunn@savoirmedia.com
(617) 484-1660