Delaware County’s Emergency Medical Services Department has become the only government-based EMS agency in Ohio to earn national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE). Additionally, it has recently earned a perfect score from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) for its re-accreditation site visit from that organization. Only 187 out of the roughly 15,000 EMS agencies Nationally have achieved CAAS accreditation.

CAPCE is the leading accrediting body in the U.S. for EMS continuing education, working to ensure that EMS professionals receive high-quality, standards-based, and clinically sound continuing education. Fewer than 25 ground-ambulance services in the country have earned this distinction. The only other EMS provider in Ohio with this designation is a hospital-based system in Toledo.

“The CAAS honor is the gold standard for an EMS agency as a whole and now we have achieved the CAPCE honor, which is the gold standard for EMS education,” said DCEMS Chief Jeff Fishel.

With the dual CAAS and CAPCE accreditations, Delaware County EMS joins an elite group of EMS organizations nationwide recognized for excellence in both service delivery and educational quality.

DCEMS, which was honored as the National EMS System of the Year in 2022 by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and EMS World magazine, continues to maintain high standards of excellence. They also recently were notified that they had achieved a perfect score in a national assessment of prehospital pediatric care. A total of 7,039 EMS agencies participated in the study, which was conducted by the federally funded Emergency Medical Services for Children Program. And DCEMS is now in its 11th straight year of receiving the highest recognition possible from the American Heart Association for heart attack and stroke care, achieving Mission Lifeline Gold with Heart Attack and Stroke Honor Roll.

For more information about DCEMS, click HERE or go to https://ems.co.delaware.oh.us/.