Cape Fear Valley Mobile Integrated Healthcare and Cumberland County Emergency Medical Services have received national recognition from the American Heart Association for excellence in emergency cardiovascular care.

The department earned the 2025 Mission: Lifeline® EMS Gold Achievement Award with Target: Heart Attack Honor Roll status, recognizing its commitment to providing rapid, evidence-based treatment for the most severe types of heart attacks and strokes.

The award highlights the EMS team’s continued efforts to deliver life-saving care for patients in Cumberland County, beginning from the moment EMS arrives on the scene.

Mission: Lifeline® is the American Heart Association’s national effort to strengthen care for high-risk, time-sensitive heart emergencies, from the first 911 call through EMS transport, hospital care and recovery. The Gold Achievement level reflects consistent performance on quality measures and timely care, including coordination with regional STEMI (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction—a severe type of heart attack caused by a sudden blockage in a major heart artery that requires immediate treatment) and stroke centers.

“Arguably the most important link in the chain of survival for acute stroke and cardiovascular emergencies is emergency medical services and prehospital professionals,” said Dr. Kacey Kronenfeld, chair of the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline EMS Taskforce, in a press release. “Early identification, stabilization and activation of care systems by EMS give patients the best chance at recovery and long-term quality of life.”

In addition to the Gold Achievement Award, Cape Fear Valley MIH and Cumberland County EMS were recognized on the Mission: Lifeline System of Care Target: Heart Attack Honor Roll, which honors agencies that work closely with hospitals to reduce treatment time for STEMI heart attacks, the most critical type of heart attack.