LEWISTON — United Ambulance Service has received accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services.

It has been Maine’s only nationally accredited ambulance service since 2006, maintaining compliance with national standards of excellence for over 15 years, according to a news release from United.

Every three years United undergoes a voluntary review process that includes completion of a comprehensive application and on-site review by national experts in emergency medical services.

The commission is a nonprofit organization established to encourage and promote quality patient care in America’s medical transportation system. The primary focus of its standards is high-quality patient care. This is accomplished by establishing national standards which 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.

In most instances the commission’s standards exceed state and local licensing requirements.

Paul Gosselin, United’s executive director, said “overcoming the challenges of COVID, our staff has been key to our successful completion of the process. We continuously strive to do our best and we view accreditation as another step toward excellence.”

“Everyone has played a valuable role in our ability to meet the commission’s high standards, including our instructors at (United Training Center). Being able to recruit highly trained EMTs has helped United sustain its staffing levels through nationwide shortages.”

Like United Ambulance, United Training Center has a recent reaccreditation to celebrate. The Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Programs is the only nationally recognized accreditation available for EMS programs and ensures they meet standards identified by the EMS profession.

Those who are interested in starting a career in EMS or would like more information about United Ambulance Service can visit unitedambulance.com.