2016GoldAward Williamson County commissioners recognized Williamson County Emergency Medical Services on June 7 for receiving the American Heart Association Mission Lifeline Gold Award.[/caption]

Williamson County commissioners recognized Williamson County Emergency Medical Services on June 7 for receiving the American Heart Association Mission Lifeline Gold Award for the organization's dedication to caring for heart attack patients in Williamson County.

“Williamson County EMS upholds the highest level of care for heart attack patients," said Loni Denne, senior director for Mission: Lifeline/Quality & Systems Improvement, in a statement. "This group has shown that they can meet the treatment guidelines and time goals, as well as work with hospitals and cardiologists in the region to get patients to the hospital and receiving treatment as quickly as possible in order to save lives."

Williamson County EMS will is also teaching Take 10 CPR training to 50 people at Formaspace in Austin on June 10 in celebration of National CPR and Automated External Defibrillator Awareness Week. Williamson County EMS helped save Formaspace employee Loddie Alspach's life when he had from a heart attack while riding his bike. Take 10 is a nationally recognized CPR-training program that can be taught in 10 minutes. The training is free and does not require mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

On June 11, Williamson County EMS will also host American Heart Association CPR and First Aid classes at the Williamson County EMS Clinical Practices Building, located at 321 W. Eighth St. Jim Persons, Williamson County EMS outreach education coordinator, said 12 people are scheduled to participate in the June 11 class, and a different class will be offered each month.

“We are excited, we had a really good response,” Persons said. "We have people from teenagers to their late 70s coming."