Officials from Montgomery, Carroll and Grenada counties were in Winona at MedStat’s ribbon cutting on Wednesday.
“We are extremely proud to announce the grand opening of our new building in Winona,” said Dave Eldridge, MedStat operations manager.
Eldridge said MedStat moved to 506 North Applegate for two reasons.
“The first reason is that our infrastructure was old and outdated -- emergency generator, 911 equipment, and our dispatching consoles,” said Eldridge.
On July 4, 2020, MedStat sustained electrical damage to the administration building on Front Street due to inclement weather, Eldridge said.
“We were hit with huge power surges that caused thousands of dollars in damage to our 911 system, emergency generator and radio system. Most of which had to be replaced,” said Eldridge. “During the process of rebuilding the systems, we decided to pursue a brand-new location and all new equipment.”
When they began thinking about operating in a new building, they considered the idea of consolidating the ambulance station, education center, communications center and administration offices into one building, Eldridge said.
The new building will house a state-of-the-art brand-new communications center, education center, administration offices and station for crews that work out of the Winona area, he said. “One of the most impressive things about the new building is the communications center. We will have all brand-new equipment. The 911 phone system is the same system that New Orleans, La. is currently using,” said Eldridge. “I was told that they are the first large system to use this new system. Also, the Computer Aided Dispatch system that we have deployed is a system that can learn based on historical data and aid the dispatchers in dispatching the closest units to the calls.”
Prior to MedStat’s moving to the Applegate location, the administration building/communication center operated at 108 South Front Street. Station One, the ambulances and crews, were located at 655 Middleton Road, and the education center was located at 210 Airport Road, Eldridge said.
Station One operated on Middleton Road for more than 20 years, and the administration building operated on South Front for 15 years, Eldridge said.
MedStat provides services, including an advanced life support ambulance, he said.
“We are just like you see on TV. We have trained 911 dispatchers and call takers that are nationally certified as emergency medical dispatchers. This means that if you call 911, the county EOC transfers the caller to our communications center and our dispatchers are capable of giving life-saving prearrival instructions,” said Eldridge. “We give instructions on how to do CPR daily. The dispatchers have assisted in delivering babies as well as other medical/traumatic emergencies. Also, we offer ambulances -- emergency and non-emergency.”
Eldridge said MedStat staffs three types of ambulances out of the Winona station.
“First, we have our paramedic level ambulance that is responsible for all 911 calls as well as emergent life-threatening transfers. The second level is the advanced EMT, which is new to the EMS systems in Mississippi. This level is capable of providing advanced emergency care just not as much as a paramedic. Finally, the basic ambulance -- this unit is used for non-emergency transports such as doctor appointments, dialysis treatments, and non-life-threatening transfers that do not require any advanced skills,” said Eldridge.
