Established 1975 BLS or ALS ALS Medical director Levon Vartanian, MD | Director Bradley J. England | |
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Ambulances Type-III Mobile Intensive Care Units | ||
Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services (CCEMS) is an emergency medical service provider in North Harris County in Houston, Texas. CCEMS is one of the most reliable EMS services in Houston. All ambulances in use by CCEMS are MICU or Mobile Intensive Care Units, with at least one Paramedic, making all ambulances ALS units. CCEMS has a service area of approximately 177 square miles (460 km2) and has 13 stations (15 ambulances) plus 2 peak ambulances, a communication center that dispatches both fire and ambulance, and an education center.
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History
In November 1974, a tragic event occurred in which a man died from a heart attack without pre-hospital care. Afterwards, The FM 1960 Community (The stretch of FM 1960 between I-45 and SH 249), took the initiative to form an emergency medical service which came to be known as Cypress Creek EMS, named after the large creek that runs through the area. CCEMS was chartered as a non-profit corporation by the state of Texas on July 25, 1975. http://ccemsnews.com/2015/07/31/celebrating-40-years-of-community-service/
The community desperately raised funds to establish the service and they soon purchased the first ambulance, which arrived on December 14, 1975. At this time, all of the CCEMS staff were volunteers with no reimbursement for their services. To this day, volunteers are a large and integral part of the staff and they range from non-medical drivers to emergency medical technicians to paramedics.
The service relied heavily on donations and fund-raisers as it did not receive government funding. Third-Party billing was initiated in 1993 and allowed Cypress Creek EMS to bill insured patients to help with reimbursement. CCEMS is affiliated with Emergency Services District 11 and about 51% of its funding now comes from tax dollars.
One of the notable things about CCEMS is its bright red uniform shirts. CCEMS is one of the very few services in the country that wears red. In order to keep an image of professionalism, members wear the uniforms year round as opposed to other services who may permit their members to wear shorts or polo shirts during the summer time.
The main fleet today consists of over 18 MICU Type III ambulances, two supervisor vehicles, a utility vehicle and a mobile communications command vehicle.
The first responder program allows qualified members to respond to calls in their surrounding area before a medic unit arrives.
CCEMS also has a bike team that performs first response at large events such as parades and festivals.
Cypress Creek EMS is not in direct connection with Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department. They are however affiliates and CCEMS provides EMS services to the CCVFD area. There is a widespread misconception that the two services are one in the same. http://ccemsnews.com/2015/08/05/cypress-creek-confusion/
Clinical Department
The Charles R. Hooks Education Center located on Five Forks Dr, is a state of the art education facility which provides training programs for Emergency Care Attendants, EMT-Basic, and Paramedics. Cypress Creek EMS also offers training by the American Heart Association guidelines in:
Cypress Creek EMS also has a longstanding training program for Tactical Medics, which allows trained emergency medical technicians to provide support to tactical law enforcement officers. Firefighters, Police Officers and Medics come from all over the world to attend the twice a year training sessions. http://ccemsnews.com/2015/06/08/scenario-driven-training-makes-tactical-medic-training-relevant/
In 2015, CCEMS Special Operations Director and Tactical Medic Instructor Wren Nealy was named Tactical Officer of the Year. http://ccemsnews.com/2015/09/08/wren-nealy-named-national-tactical-officer-of-the-year/
Stations
CCEMS operates 14 full-time ambulances and 4 peak trucks.
Communication Center
The Communication Center, or Comm Center for short, is the primary communication link between the public and CCEMS. When an individual dials 911 and it is determined to be a medical emergency within the service district of CCEMS, it is rerouted to the CCEMS Communication Center. The dispatcher then asks a series of questions to determine the situation. Once a determinant is formed, an ambulance is dispatched to the location. The dispatcher remains on the phone with the caller and asks additional questions to gain information about the event as well as determine the level of priority. The dispatcher also uses the information gained to determine whether the responding crew will need additional assistance such as Fire Department, Law Enforcement, Life Flight, or help from the on-duty supervisor. At this time, the ambulance is en route and the information gained by the dispatcher is communicated to the ambulance crew.
From when the crew is en route to the emergency, to when the crew is cleared from the hospital, they remain in contact with the comm center through portable radios, and cell phones. All trucks also have a Mobile data terminal (MDT) that allows them to transfer information without using online communication. The CCEMS Comm Center also works with other dispatch centers such as the Harris County Sheriff's Department and surrounding area EMS dispatch centers to provide and receive mutual aid.
The Comm Center dispatches fire apparatus in addition to ambulances in the area. The following fire departments are dispatched through the CCEMS Comm Center:
http://ccemsnews.com/2015/06/16/who-answers-your-9-1-1-calls-in-north-harris-county/
The CCEMS Comm Center uses the Field Response Guide by the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch.