CAMTS Awards Accreditation to Three Medical Transport Services
April 18, 2017
The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) proudly awarded accreditation to three medical transport services at the CAMTS April board meeting in San Antonio, Texas.
The gold standard in emergency medical transport safety accreditation, CAMTS requires compliance with the highest safety standards of any medical transportation accreditation program. CAMTS's deeply involved accreditation process and regular audits review all aspects of current medical practices, aviation, transportation, and patient safety above and beyond those of government regulatory bodies.
Dell Children’s Pediatric Critical Care Transport Team in Austin, Texas, performs ground ambulance, rotorwing, and fixed wing transports with registered nurse and respiratory therapists teams for neonatal and pediatric patients requiring specialty care. The medical teams are employed by the Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas utilizing Acadian Ambulance for ground transport, Jet Center, Ltd. as the fixed wing operator and STAR Flight as the rotorwing operator. Jet Center also operates CAMTS-accredited Air Medical LLC. STAR Flight is one of the few CAMTS accredited public services with its own FAA Part 135 certificate, operating a search and rescue service for Travis County, Texas.
Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service in Marietta, Georgia, operates 48 ambulances serving the Metro Atlanta area with advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS) ground–only service; completing over 100,000 transports last year. The paramedic/emergency medical teams respond to 911 requests as well as provide transport for specialty and critical care teams in Atlanta and the surrounding communities. Metro Atlanta Ambulance is the only ALS/BLS ground service to be accredited by CAMTS in Georgia. According to Metro Atlanta Vice President Devan Seabaugh, the process of applying for CAMTS and submitting the required documents was a learning experience that helped the service organize their quality and safety management systems and focus on areas for improvement, strengthening their overall service.
Sunrise Air Ambulance in Show Low, Arizona, is a fixed wing medical transport service providing emergency critical care with registered nurse and respiratory therapist teams. Founded in 2011, Sunrise operates Rockwell AC690 Turbo Commanders. While Arizona is a highly competitive market, the Sunrise program demonstrated strong ethical practices by working cooperatively with competitors and creating payment plans for patients. The medical director plays a very active role in educating and training personnel, working with them in the emergency department of the local hospital, where they receive clinical experience on an ongoing basis.
The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) is dedicated to improving the quality of patient care and safety of the transport environment for services providing rotorwing, fixed wing and ground transport systems. To achieve accreditation by CAMTS, medical transport programs must adhere to CAMTS's standards, developed and continually improved by a board of highly skilled and experienced medical and medical transportation professionals. Adherence to these standards, which are above and beyond regulatory requirements, are audited every three years to assure program compliance to remain accredited by CAMTS. Nearly 200 services have achieved CAMTS accreditation. For more information, visit www.camts.org.