Fire Department Receives Award for Innovation

The North Richland Hills Fire Department has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 J.Robert Havlick Award for Innovation in Local Government. This is the highest honor the Alliance for Innovation bestows each year to a program or product initiated by a local government.

The NRH Fire Department was selected for its Field Activation Cath Lab Program. Through this program, North Richland Hills’ paramedics diagnose life-threatening heart attacks in the field and immediately activate the on-call Cardiac Cath Lab Team at North Hills Hospital. The paramedics then bypass the emergency room and take the patient directly to the Cath Lab, saving time and improving the patient’s chances of survival.

Because of this innovative program, heart attack patients in North Richland Hills are receiving life saving treatment in half the time, when compared to the national standard. The successful coordination and partnership between North Richland Hills paramedics and hospital staff allows a patient’s artery to be reopened with a balloon tipped catheter in only 44 minutes, on average. That far exceeds the national standard of 90 minutes. The minutes that are saved can make the difference between life and death.

“The commitment of both City and hospital leaders and their respective staffs displayed both courage and creativity to improve the quality of life in their community,” said Jim Ingram, Alliance for Innovation Director of Administration and Finance. “The Alliance for Innovation thanks the City of North Richland Hills for sharing this story with us and other local governments who can learn and be inspired by their example.”

The Alliance for Innovation is a network of municipal and county government professionals seeking innovation and governmental excellence. Created from a partnership between International City/County Management Association, Arizona State University School of Public Affairs, and the Innovation Groups, the Alliance is the widest and deepest innovation based network serving local government. The 2009 Award Selection Committee was comprised entirely of local government professionals, so this is truly a peer-to-peer honor. Additional information about the Alliance for Innovation is available at www.transformgov.org.

For additional information about the North Richland Hills Fire Department’s Field Activation Cath Lab Program, contact Fire Chief Andy Jones at 817-427-6900.

Click here for a list of other awards the City of North Richland Hills has received recently.