LARGO, Fla. (March 12, 2018) – Sunstar Paramedics has been renewed as an Accredited Center of Excellence (ACE) by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch^® (IAED^™). Ambulance service providers attain ACE accreditation by achieving maximum results in emergency situations through superior care and efficient resource use.

This is Sunstar Paramedics’ seventh ACE medical accreditation, and it is one of just six agencies in the world to re-accredit as an ACE seven times. During the accreditation process, ambulance service providers complete an intensive 20-step process.

The ACE accreditation inspires agencies to perform superior, up-to-date public care and to employ efficient use of resources when handling all emergency call situations. An accreditation lasts three years, and agencies must meet or exceed the same standards required in the initial accreditation in order to achieve reaccreditation.

“Attaining the ACE accreditation reflects our team’s dedication to providing high-quality patient care,” said John Peterson, chief operating officer of Sunstar Paramedics. “It was important to reaccredit to assure the community that our organization maintains the gold standard in emergency dispatch and emergency medical services.”

Sunstar Paramedics’ communication center is only the 34th emergency dispatch center in the world to attain the status as an ACE for its use of the Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS^®). This distinction places it among the very highest-performing emergency dispatch agencies worldwide.

“There’s a tremendous amount of work that goes into reaccrediting as an ACE,” said IAED president Jerry Overton. “We’re certainly proud of Sunstar Paramedics and its dedication to this process.”

There are currently more than 180 centers throughout the world that have the Medical ACE distinction among the 3,000 centers worldwide using the fire, police, medical, and nurse triage protocols for safe and efficient response to the wide variety of emergency situations. In the state of Florida alone, 17 agencies have attained ACE status in using the MPDS.