MFRD Awarded "Gold Standard" Ambulance Accreditation

Friday, March 12th was a day of celebration for the men and women of the Mobile Fire-Recue Department, particularly those who provide our citizens with world-class Emergency Medical Services. MFRD held a press conference to announce national recognition for outstanding operations and standards in emergency medical.

For the first time, the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) for the quality of its Emergency Medical Services operations. CAAS certification is rare for standalone EMS services and incredibly rare for fire departments.

As of May 3, 2023, the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is one of four CAAS-certified EMS providers in Alabama and the only fire department with this national accreditation. Including private, public, and hospital-based services, only 185 of over 18,200 EMS agencies are CAAS accredited. Of those, only 25 agencies are fire departments. Achieving this certification places MFRD among the top 1% of emergency medical agencies in the United States.

Receiving this accreditation is another accolade for MFRD, which already has an ISO-1 rating for its fire protection services. Achieving CAAS accreditation took a monumental team effort to meet all the requirements while also continuing to provide services to all our citizens.

Fire Chief Jeremy Lami affirms that fighting fires is only about 15% of what MFRD does.

"Almost 85% of our responses are EMT’s and paramedics showing up to provide emergency medical care," says Lami.

City of Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson and Chief Lami say receiving the CAAS Certification is a big deal, not only for the fire department but also for Mobile residents.

From finance management to training, communications, medical direction, equipment and personnel, CAAS looks at every single aspect of an EMS operation.

Citizens of Mobile can be certain that the quality of service and care that they receive is among the best in the nation. The MFRD is the gold standard.

"If you need services from fire rescue, you want to make sure that you have the very best," says Mayor Stimpson.

"We're not just telling you that. Somebody came in, reviewed everything that we've done, they did onsite visits and visited the stations,” says Chief Lami. "They can rest assured knowing that they are receiving the gold standard in emergency medical care."