Nine EMS teams from four countries were recognised for excellence in prehospital stroke care at Eusem 2021 in Lisbon where Prof Diana Cimpoeşu, Eusem chair of prehospital education, presented the first EMS Angels Awards to teams from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Spain. EMS Angels Awards will be presented quarterly. They serve as a platform for rewarding ambulance teams that raise the bar in prehospital stroke care, and as a mechanism to identify opportunities for improvement. 

Diamond status was awarded to two teams each from Czech Republic and Spain. Spain accounted for a further two gold awards, along with the team from Bucharest, Romania. Teams from Slovakia and Czech Republic each received a platinum award. 

From left, Antonio Iglesias from Galicia, Francisco Arande from Cordoba, Montse Gorchs from Barcelona and Nicolas Riera from Madrid. Earlier this year, Spain's awesome foursome were also honoured with a Spirit of Excellence Award. 

Spain's Francesco Aranda and Antonio Iglesias are congratulated by Angels consultant Alicia Arjona. 

Diamond winner Francesco Aranda with Prof Diana Cimpoeşu and Jan van der Merwe.

Petr Jaššo collected a diamond award on behalf of his team from Czech Republic's Moravian-Silesian region.

Robert Havalda, Angels consultant and co-ordinator of the inaugural EMS Angels Awards, collected a diamond award on behalf of Jana Kubalová from the South Moravian Medical Rescue Service in Czech Republic. 

Angels consultant Diana Urbani collected a platinum award on behalf of EMS ZaMED in Slovakia.

Matej Polák, director of EMS ZaMED in Slovakia.

Michal Mašek collected a platinum award on behalf of the EMS service in Czech Republic's Pardubice region.

Ambulance Service Bucharest Ilfov of Romania earned gold status within months of the successful rollout of an Angels supported prenotification pilot programme in the Romanian capital.

Montse Gorchs from Barcelona receives her team's gold award from Prof Diana Cimpoeşu and Angels Europe Project Lead Jan van der Merwe.

Nicolas Riera collected a gold award on behalf of the team from Madrid.

From left, Michal Mašek and Petr Jaššo with Angels consultant in Czech Republic, Robert Havalda.

EMS stroke experts and Angels consultants held a meeting to discuss barriers and innovation in prehospital stroke care in Lisbon on 29 October.