Maitland City Talk

The Maitland Fire Rescue Department has received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services for its compliance with national standards of excellence. Maitland Fire Rescue Department became the 173rd ambulance service in the country to successfully complete the voluntary review process, which included completion of a comprehensive application and on-site review by national experts in emergency medical services. With this achievement, Maitland Fire Rescue Department becomes the 14th ambulance service to be accredited in the state of Florida.

The Commission members also relayed a special commendation to the MFRD for receiving a perfect score, which is considered an outstanding achievement.

The Commission is a non-profit organization that was established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America's medical transportation system. The primary focus of the Commission's standards is high-quality patient care. This is accomplished by establishing national standards that not only address the delivery of patient care, but also the ambulance service's total operation and its relationships with other agencies, the general public, and the medical community. The Commission's standards often exceed state or local licensing requirements.

Fire Chief Kimberly Neisler said accreditation, "Represents our firm commitment to our patients and community. We continuously strive to do our best and we view CAAS accreditation as another step toward excellence."

Maitland Fire Rescue Department is one of a very few organizations that have received fire accreditation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence, CAAS accreditation, and an Insurance Services Office (ISO) score of 2.

Chief Neisler believes that, "Our dedicated staff has been instrumental in our successful completion of the process. I think it gives the feeling of prestige and pride to work in an accredited fire and ambulance services."

She said, "Everyone here has played a valuable role in our ability to meet the Commission's high standards. We have achieved accreditation, but I believe it can only be a stimulus for continued improvement."