Stark Summit Ambulance Notifies Patients of Data Security Incident

BARBERTON, Ohio, Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Stark Summit Ambulance has learned of a data security incident that may have impacted personal and protected health information belonging to certain current and former Stark Summit Ambulance employees and patients. Stark Summit Ambulance has sent notification of this incident to potentially impacted individuals and has provided resources to assist them.

On May 28, 2020, Stark Summit Ambulance learned of unusual activity involving one Stark Summit Ambulance employee email account. Upon discovering this activity, Stark Summit Ambulance immediately took steps to secure that account, including changing the account password. On June 10, 2020, Stark Summit Ambulance then learned of unusual activity involving a second Stark Summit Ambulance employee email account. Upon learning of this activity, Stark Summit Ambulance reset all email passwords and launched an investigation. Stark Summit Ambulance also engaged an independent forensics firm to determine what happened and whether personal information had been accessed or acquired without authorization. As a result of this investigation, after receiving confirmation that six Stark Summit Ambulance employee email accounts had been accessed without authorization, Stark Summit Ambulance learned on July 27, 2020 that personal information belonging to certain Stark Summit Ambulance employees/patients was contained within the impacted email accounts. Stark Summit Ambulance then took steps to identify current mailing addresses in order to complete notification to potentially impacted individuals.

There is no evidence of the misuse of any information potentially involved in this incident. However, on September 4, 2020, Stark Summit Ambulance provided notice of this incident to the potentially impacted individuals and offered impacted individuals complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft restoration services.

The following personal and protected health information may have been involved in the incident: first name or first initial and last name in combination with one or more of the following: Social Security number, driver's license number, state ID number, or passport numbers, checking or savings account, credit or debit card number, or personal identification (PIN) code, medical diagnosis, medical treatment information,  treatment type, treatment location, clinical information, mental or physical condition, health care provider/doctor name, date of service, medical history information, health insurance information, Medicare/Medicaid number, other health care payment/cost information, and prescription information.

Stark Summit Ambulance has established a toll-free call center to answer questions about the incident and to address related concerns. Call center representatives are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 am – 9:00 pm eastern and can be reached at 833-901-0918.

Also, Stark Summit Ambulance reported this matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will cooperate fully with any investigation.

The privacy and protection of personal and protected health information is a top priority for Stark Summit Ambulance, which deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause.

SOURCE Stark Summit Ambulance