40 Under 40 nominees were selected based on their contributions to the American Ambulance Association, their employer, state ambulance association, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession.
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Jeremey Hollrah
Deputy Chief of Special Operations
St. Charles County Ambulance District
St. Charles, Missouri
LinkedIn
Nominated by: Kyle Gaines

Biography

In 2020, St. Charles County Ambulance District Deputy Chief of Special Operations Jeremey Hollrah celebrates his 20th year of service to his community. His history of public service began immediately after high school when he enrolled in the District’s EMT program and began his career in EMS. The following year, he earned his Paramedic license and later attended the St. Charles County Fire Academy, successfully completing the Fire I & II courses. After gaining experience at Abbot EMS, Jeremey joined the team at St. Charles County Ambulance District in 2005. Within a year, he successfully applied to be part of the District’s Urban Search & Rescue Task Force and received numerous commendations for his leadership and patient advocacy. Among other honors, Hollrah was named Paramedic of the Year in 2011 by the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association [MEMSA]. In 2014, Jeremey was promoted to Battalion Chief, a role that enabled him to mentor new Paramedics entering the SCCAD system.

Two years ago, a retirement among the District’s senior leadership team led to Jeremey’s promotion to Deputy Chief of Special Operations. In this multi-faceted role, Jeremey has ultimate oversight for the District’s special teams (Tactical EMS Unit, Urban Search & Rescue), manages our fleet of 50+ vehicles, and oversees supply chain logistics, among a multitude of other duties.

Jeremey and his wife, Kelly, reside in Orchard Farm – a rural community in St. Charles County where he also serves as Volunteer Fire Chief. The couple has two children – Blake and Brooke.

Reason for Nomination

Over the last two decades, Jeremey Hollrah has consistently defined what it means to be a public servant. In each of the roles he’s served, he’s looked for innovative opportunities for St. Charles County Ambulance District [SCCAD] to serve not only our 400,000 residents but the St. Louis Region and beyond.

Jeremey’s career in EMS began 20 years ago when he successfully completed the EMT Program at the organization with who he would one day work. Following graduation, he immediately began his Paramedic coursework at Hannibal Lagrange College, earning his EMT-P certification in 2002. For three years he worked at Abbot EMS in St. Louis County before returning to St. Charles County to work as a paramedic.

Within a year, Jeremey applied for and was accepted to the St. Louis Metro Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, and worked diligently to broaden his breadth of knowledge by earning certifications in more than a dozen specialties, including confined space rescue, swift water rescue, and Hazmat Incident Command, among others. After many years of demonstrated leadership and accountability, Jeremey was named USAR Task Force Leader.

Concurrently, Jeremey was a standout performer in day-to-day operations, proving himself a skilled clinician, staunch patient advocate, and dedicated colleague. His assertive actions on numerous high-acuity calls undoubtedly made life-altering differences for patients. In 2010, Jeremey was named SCCAD Paramedic of the Year, and the following year received the same honor from the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association [MEMSA]. In 2014, Jeremey was promoted to Battalion Chief, a role that enabled him to mentor dozens of paramedics. His direct reports consistently provided positive feedback on his leadership.

In addition to his duties at SCCAD, Jeremey has since 2000 been an active member of the Orchard Farm Fire Protection District, a small, volunteer department that serves a rural portion of our community where he and his family reside. Since 2005, Jeremey has served as Volunteer Chief of the department.

In 2018, a retirement announcement by one of SCCAD’s senior leadership team members created an opening at the Deputy Chief level. Jeremey’s years of involvement and leadership on the USAR team, coupled with his management experience at Orchard Farm, made him a strong candidate for the Deputy Chief of Special Operations & Logistics position. The role is multi-faceted, involving ultimate oversight of not only the District’s special teams, but also supply chain logistics, product development, fleet management, and more. To say Jeremey has risen to the challenge would be an understatement. Since assuming the role, he has driven a number of forward-thinking initiatives forward that have benefited our region tremendously while concurrently helping manage numerous significant operational events that have taken place in St. Charles County.

Under his charge, the District has deployed two major operational assets: an AmbuBus and a Major Incident Response Unit. Working closely with USAR team members and the ambulance design committee, Jeremey worked to create functional units that can be deployed to a variety of incidents not only in our county but throughout the region. He ensured the projects were completed in a cost-effective manner, purchasing high-quality pre-owned models and successfully leveraging grant funding.

Since assuming the Deputy Chief role, several high-profile incidents in our community have tested our team, but under Jeremey’s leadership, we’ve come through each one successfully. Last year, the northern portion of our community was stricken with historic flooding so significant that it rendered one very small town an island unto itself. Knowing we could not leave the area uncovered or sacrifice response times, Jeremey collaborated with senior leadership to develop an operational plan to ensure residents had access to care. For 60+ days, USAR team members were stationed in Portage Des Sioux, transporting ill or injured individuals out by boat when needed.

Like every other EMS entity, COVID-19 has presented a challenge unlike any other in our organization’s history. While many individuals on our team have taken active roles to ensure we’re able to rise to the challenge, Jeremey’s involvement has been paramount to our success. From the onset of the pandemic, he worked quite literally side-by-side with officials from St. Charles County Emergency Management, Emergency Communications, and Public Health to ensure that as things rapidly unfolded and evolved, SCCAD had a seat at the table and was involved in the decision-making process for our community as a whole. As the person with oversight for supply chain logistics, the pandemic presented a challenge of product availability. As Safety Officer, he has worked to secure PPE and other necessary supplies not just for SCCAD personnel, but for fire and police departments county-wide. Creative thinking, perseverance, and relationships within our own community enabled Jeremey to keep everyone stocked and protected.

In recent months, residents of our community have organized a number of demonstrations/protests in our community. For each, Jeremey has collaborated with law enforcement, fire protection, and other agencies in our community to ensure the safety of residents. Thankfully, our events have been completely peaceful in nature, but nonetheless require a significant amount of planning and manpower.

Jeremey Hollrah is, presumably, at the midpoint of his career in emergency medical services, but in our estimation has already amassed a lifetime of accomplishments. The procedures, programs, and practices he’s put into place will pay dividends for our organization and region for years to come, and we’re proud to nominate him for the American Ambulance Association ’40 Under 40’ Class of 2021!