South Georgia Medical Center received the Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation Gold Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association for treatment of adult patients who suffer cardiac arrests in the hospital. This is the third consecutive year SGMC has received the highest national ranking from AHA.

According to AHA, more than 200,000 adults and children have an in-hospital cardiac arrests each year. The program was developed to save lives of those who experience in-hospitalcardiac arrests through consistently following the most up-to-date research-based guidelines for treatment. Guidelines include following protocols for patient safety, medical emergency team response, effective and timely resuscitation and post-resuscitation care.

To qualify for the awards, hospitals must comply with the quality measures for two or more consecutive years.

“This recognition is truly a team effort,” said SGMC CEO Ross Berry. SGMC’s Code Blue team is comprised of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapy, transport, pharmacy, chaplains and support staff. Berry continued, “SGMC treats cardiac arrests with the utmost importance, following proven knowledge and guidelines to ensure patients have the best possible outcome."

“We are pleased to recognize SGMC for its commitment to follow these guidelines,” said Paul Heidenreich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. “Shortening the time to effective resuscitation and maximizing post-resuscitation care is critical to patient survival.”