Delaware County EMS Earns Rare Dual National Accreditations

By 1808Delaware

In a milestone achievement for emergency care in Ohio, Delaware County’s Emergency Medical Services Department (DCEMS) has become the only government-based EMS agency in the state to earn national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE). This distinction places DCEMS among fewer than 25 ground-ambulance services nationwide recognized for excellence in EMS education — and in Ohio, it is shared only with a hospital-based system in Toledo.

A Perfect Score in Service Excellence

The CAPCE honor arrives alongside another high-level recognition: a perfect score from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) during DCEMS’s re-accreditation site visit. CAAS accreditation is considered the gold standard for EMS agency operations, and only 187 of the approximately 15,000 EMS agencies in the United States have earned it.

“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.

An Elite National Standing

By holding both CAAS and CAPCE accreditations, DCEMS joins an elite group of EMS providers nationwide that excel in both service delivery and educational quality. The agency’s commitment to excellence is well established — in 2022, DCEMS was named National EMS System of the Year by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and EMS World magazine.

Recognized for Pediatric and Cardiac Care

DCEMS’s list of honors continues to grow. The department recently achieved a perfect score in a national assessment of prehospital pediatric care, part of a study by the federally funded Emergency Medical Services for Children Program that included 7,039 EMS agencies. In addition, DCEMS has earned the American Heart Association’s Mission Lifeline Gold award with Heart Attack and Stroke Honor Roll for 11 consecutive years, reflecting top-tier performance in cardiac and stroke response.