Immediate Response is Your Best Medicine
Christian Hospital Emergency Medical Services (CHEMS) provides 911 and inter-facility transportation to the St. Louis metropolitan area. CHEMS provides emergency services to North St. Louis County fire districts and communities serving more than 210 square miles.
Our 911 emergency services serve communities that include:
- Blackjack Fire Protection District
- Spanish Lake Fire Protection District
- North County Fire and Rescue Protection District
- Metro North Fire Protection District
- Mid-County Fire Protection District
- Kinloch Fire Protection District
- City of Ferguson
- Backup 911 services to the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District and the cities of Berkeley and Hazelwood
CHEMS also provides emergency response to other communities, including St. Charles County and Alton.
Facts about CHEMS:
- CHEMS responds to approximately 40,000 calls annually
- CHEMS is the third-busiest 911 provider in the state of Missouri
- CHEMS provides inter-facility transfers in and out of Christian Hospital and Northwest HealthCare
- Our fleet consists of 22 ambulances and three command/triage vehicles
- CHEMS has a truck and trailer for disaster response
- We employ 80 full-time first responders and 25 on-call responders
- There are eight full-time dispatchers providing services for CHEMS and Alton Memorial EMS
- We provide ride along service to other ambulance districts to allow emergency responders to learn through real-life, hands-on experience
CHEMS has advanced practice paramedics (APPs), experienced EMTs and Washington University medical directors on staff. We work directly with the emergency department staff to ensure a continuity of care in the event of medical emergencies, to improve outcomes whenever possible. This includes close coordination while in the field with the HeartWatch team in the event of a heart attack or the neurology team in the event of a stroke to provide quick and potentially life-saving action. Our APPs also work with the Community Health Access Program (CHAP) team to re-navigate non-emergent patients to more appropriate care.
EMS Academy
At the Christian Hospital EMS Academy, we utilize our educated paramedic staff as course coordinators, instructors and adjuncts to offer courses at no cost to our employees, and for a fee, to the general public. Learn more about the Christian Hospital EMS Academy.
Christian Hospital and Northwest HealthCare, members of BJC HealthCare, provide world-class medical care to the communities of North County, Greater St. Louis County and Southern Illinois.