Cypress Creek EMS


Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services is an emergency medical service provider in North Harris County, within greater Houston, Texas. All ambulances in use by CCEMS are Mobile Intensive Care Units, with at least one Paramedic, making all ambulances ALS units. CCEMS has a service area of approximately and has 15 stations plus 2 Peak-hour ambulances, a communication center that dispatches both fire and ambulance, and an education center.

History

In November 1974, a tragic event occurred in which a man died from a heart attack without pre-hospital care. Afterward, The FM 1960 Community, 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. https://ccemsnews.com/2016/07/20/cypress-creek-turns-41/
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 fundraisers 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 was previously affiliated with Emergency Services District 11 and about 51% of its funding was derived 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 summertime.
The main fleet today consists of 18 MICU Type I ambulances, two supervisor vehicles, and education ambulance, and one urban terrain 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.
In 2017, CCEMS along with its partner ESD 48 Fire Department in the Katy area became the first ground system in the country to carry whole blood in the field 24/7/365.
Cypress Creek EMS is not in direct connection with . 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.

Education

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.
In 2015, CCEMS Chief Operating Officer and Tactical Medic Instructor Wren Nealy was named Tactical Officer of the Year.
In 2016, The CCEMS Lead Paramedic Instructor was named the Texas EMS Educator of the Year
In 2017, the CCEMS Communications Center was named Texas Telecommunicator of the Year.

Stations

StationUnitsAddressFire Department ESD
Station 51Medic 51
Medic 501
Medic 521		1603 Ash Meadow Dr., Houston, TX 77090Ponderosa FD
Station 52Medic 523308 Treaschwig Rd., Humble, TX 77338Spring FD
Station 53Medic 5313603 Perry Rd., Houston, TX 77070Cypress Creek FD
Station 54Medic 5420225 Stuebner Airline Rd., Spring, TX 77379Klein FD
Station 55Medic 5512730 Champion Forest Dr., Houston, TX 77066Champions FD
Station 56Medic 5620923 Holzwarth Rd., Spring, TX 77388Spring FD
Station 57Medic 5714503 Bammel North Houston Rd., Suite 401, Houston, TX 77014Little York FD
Station 58Medic 58
Medic 528		12214 Grant Rd., Cypress, TX 77070Cypress Creek FD
Station 59Medic 597111 Five Forks Dr., Spring, TX 77379Klein FD
Station 510Medic 51020810 Lee Rd., Humble, TX 77338Eastex FD
Station 511Medic 51118826 N. Eldridge Parkway, Tomball, TX 77377Klein FD
Station 512Medic 51226722 Kuykendahl Rd., Tomball, TX 77375The Woodlands FD
Station 513Medic 513
Medic 563		22310 Springwoods Village Parkway, Spring, TX 77389Spring FD
Station 514Medic 51423803 Aldine Westfield Rd, Spring, TX 77373Spring FD
Station 515Medic 5153975 FM 2920, Spring, TX 77388Spring FD
Station 516Medic 51611800 Gosling Rd. The Woodlands, TX 77381The Woodlands FD

CCEMS operates nineteen 24-hour ambulances and two 12-hour peak ambulances
.
Cypress Creek EMS is headquartered at 7111 Five Forks, Spring, Texas 77379.

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 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 also dispatches fire apparatus in addition to ambulances in the area. The following fire departments and emergency agencies are dispatched through the CCEMS Comm Center:
The CCEMS Comm Center uses the Field Response Guide by the .

Awards