New EMS provider reports 90‑day operations in Chester, seeks municipal support to sustain advanced services

VMSC Emergency Medical Services gave a 90‑day operational report to Chester City Council, highlighting service improvements since Crozer Hospital’s emergency‑department closure and requesting municipal dialogue on long‑term funding to sustain advanced life‑saving capabilities.

In a detailed presentation, Shane Wheeler, chief executive officer of VMSC Emergency Medical Services, said the company stood up local EMS operations rapidly after Crozer’s closure and hired roughly 47 former Crozer EMS staff. "We ran 2,187 calls over the 90‑day period," Wheeler told council, and said about 66% of those patients were transported to hospitals, nearly 11% refused services and roughly 23% of responses resulted in no patient being found. He reported an average response time in Chester of 5 minutes, 37 seconds, down from over eight minutes in 2024.

Wheeler presented clinical outcomes and innovations: Chester’s out‑of‑hospital cardiac arrest survival rates exceed other VMSC service areas and Commonwealth averages, and 45% of cardiac arrest patients VMSC responds to arrive at the emergency room alive. He said the provider recently implemented a whole‑blood…