County Hospital District HQ EMS station officially open

The community got a first hand look at Hopkins County Hospital District headquarters and EMS station during an open house and ribbon-cutting at the facility Wednesday afternoon.

Personnel from all four counties the EMS serves, members of the HCHD Board of Directors, hospital staff, Chamber of Commerce officials and members, representatives from medical helicopter services with which EMS personnel often work, other first responders, CHRISTUS offi- cials and community members filled the new training/ conference center for the opening remarks by HCHD CEO/EMS Director Brent Smith.

Smith said those utilizing the new building are humbled and blessed to have it.

The new $5.1 million station/headquarters is just over 16,000-square feet and located on four acres owned by HCHD at 116 Airport Road across from the former station and CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs.

The facility has a backup generator that will allow the facility to continue priority operations in a power outage for at least 72 hours without having to be refueled.

The facility includes a training room/conference center to hold educational classes for EMS personnel as well as other local first responders, and will be open for community groups to reserve for use as well. The room is equipped with technology to host videoconferencing and can hold up to 30 for training purposes.

The facility has secure locking, requiring a PROX card for entry to the EMS living quarters and HCHD administrative offices.

It has bedrooms for up to 8 on-duty EMS personnel to sleep, a chair, lamp and table. Each is climate controlled so each can enjoy their preferred temperature for sleeping while working 24-hour shifts.

The. EMS kitchen is located directly across from training room, allowing foods to be prepared or stored should a snack, lunch or evening meal be offered with a training or program.

The kitchen includes a large island with stools on one side and storage on the other and three three refrigerators and pantries, one for each on-duty shift, as well as the usual sink and two microwaves and ovens and other kitchen appliances.

The “day room” has a large custom built table with the EMS logo on it, where an entire shift can sit to talk or enjoy a meal. Behind that, are recliners with built in slots for drinks or other items on each arm, which can be moved around but typically face a flat screen TV on the wall.

Men’s and women’s locker rooms have 12 lockers each so that personnel can hang uniforms as well as locking boxes above and below each for storage of personal and hygiene items, PPE such as N95 masks and boots or shoes. Each locker room has a washer and dryer, as well as two shower rooms, which staff are encouraged to use prior to leaving just to be sure any contaminants they may have encountered are washed off before they return home to their families. Shower rooms give them space to place their personal and hygiene items while they clean and get dressed, as well as racks for towels and hampers. Each locker room also had three restrooms with travel-center style doors and has two sinks near the entrance and restrooms.

The EMS side also has a gym where staff can work out between calls, or before or after work.

A shift supervisor and officer office is utilized per shift, and a crew work room has three work stations with computers so staff can complete reports, clock in or out for their shift, and store items.

Approximately $800,000 in equipment was purchased to upgrade the communications center, and is being installed in three phases: with a base communications center installed, radios and vehicle equipment, and tower equipment upgrades. With the appropriate equipment, EMS are able to communicate via satellite with Texas Department of Emergency Management and other national emergency management officials to participate in emergency drills or respond in other counties, medical helicopter crews or even other states with assistance and still communicate with dispatchers from the AmBus mobile unit.

The new system has computer, fiber, VOIP which will allow communications to continue operations if one or more of the systems goes down. The communications center has three stations, with six screens, phones and other necessary equipment to dispatch EMS to calls in Hopkins, Delta, Franklin and Rains counties. It has a break room and restroom for dispatchers, and behind it a server room that serves as the brains for all operations in the building, including the alarm system.

An alert lighting system installed throughout the facility includes speakers with a computer voice to announce alerts and assignments. Lighting in designated areas is hooked into the CAD (computer dispatch system) so that it turns a different color to alert the on-duty crews which of the three types of calls they are being dispatched to — a medical call, red a fire department assist or law enforcement call.

Each of the 8-rooms, hallway intersections, dayroom and main rooms flash the lights. A TV monitor mounted near the top of the wall pulls up a map for the address to show staff the location of the call. In a few other locations, a second monitor displays maintenance and other notices the department personnel should know about apparatus and requirements.

All medical supplies and medications are inventoried and shelved for ease of access for the staff in a clinical supply room. Each separate piece contains an RF ID number. This helps keep track of all inventory, so EMS knows exactly how much of each supply they have, making it easier to known how many of each need to be ordered at any given time so they do not run out of any supplies and preventing overstocking as well. When supplies come in, designated staff tag them with an ID tag, which allows the system to track and keep a count of each item. An ID reader can easily be used to scan the plastic tubs to see exactly how many are in the tubs on the shelf at any given time. The RF ID tracking system also is a financial control helping the department be more fiscally responsible. Another bulk storage room holds boxes with the supplies as they are brought in, tagged and separated to go to the clinical supply shelves or to be shipped to one of the outlying stations.

Behind the bulk supply storage is a cleaning room, where equipment — and even people — can be washed down if needed.

The ambulance bay houses the two ambulances being utilized for the day, easily accessible when dispatched. Of course, there are ample shore lines to plug the The day KSST toured the facility, both on-duty ambulances were out on calls, so that bay area as well as a couple beyond it were empty.

The AmBus was parked on the far end of the bays, as was an ambulance typically staged in another county that’d been brought in for repairs. The bays have energy efficient lights, and doors that lift when an apparatus begins advancing toward the bay or from inside toward the doors. The bay also has closed shelving units with cleaning supplies.

On the other side of the building, separated by a foyer, are the HCHD headquarters includes offices for HCHD CEO, accounting, human resources staff, and CFO/Controller.

The Hospital District Headquarters also includes an activities room, human resources, a file storage room, and a workroom complete with desks, shelving and copier/printer.