Memorial Regional Hospital is the first hospital in the state of Florida to become a Resuscitation Center of Excellence (RCOE), meeting over 30 required evidence-based criteria in cardiac arrest care. Memorial Healthcare System signed the program attestation alongside the Association of EMS Medical Directors and chiefs from surrounding Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agencies.

As part of the program, Memorial commits to expand and enhance cardiac arrest care through collaborative efforts with EMS agencies to offer patients advanced therapies that have been shown to improve survival, including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and rapid, around-the-clock interventional cardiology coverage for lifesaving procedures.

Dr. Ben Abo, President of the Florida Association of EMS Medical Directors (FAEMSMD) states, “by developing a progressive and aggressive Center of Excellence, it provides a strong basis to improve cardiac care and collaboration statewide.”

The chance of surviving a cardiac arrest outside of the hospital environment is relatively uncommon, at around 10% of cases. However, through EMS collaboration allowing access to these treatments and by improving bystander CPR and AED use rates, the likelihood of survival can be significantly improved. For this reason, the program also aims to integrate regular bystander CPR courses into the community, alongside providing extra educational materials centered on preventing cardiac diseases and using AEDs.