By Andy Dahn

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s fire department has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Gold Award.

The honor recognizes programs with exceptional treatment of severe heart attack patients. Bloomington EMS Supervisor Mike Fry explained what it takes to win the award.

“You have to get on scene in a timely fashion,” Fry said. “You have to do a 12-lead, which is an EKG that many people may have had before. We have the ability to do that in the field now. And you have to be within these parameters 75% of the time.”

Fry said accurate information from 911 callers is critical in responding and saving lives.

“We get our information from our dispatch center,” said Fry. “They’re a tremendous help to us. But they can only give us information based on information they receive from the caller. And they may not know the situation, not know what’s going on, most people aren’t medically trained. It’s difficult, so we go in based on information that’s given by the caller. They should be as accurate as possible.”

Bloomington deserves a lot of credit, Fry said, for the department receiving the award.

“I just appreciate what the City of Bloomington does for my fire department,” said Fry. “They do prioritize us and we have a great training regiment. We’re allowed the tools to perform at the high quality the citizens of Bloomington receive.”

Bloomington is one of three cities in Illinois to receive the award.

Andy Dahn can be reached at [email protected].