After six months of renovations, the East Bank now has its first state-of-the-art, permanent Emergency Medical Services station.
The new station, located at 13616 River Road, will house all of the EMS offices for St. Charles Parish, said Brandon Kelly, St. Charles Parish Hospital director of marketing.
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place despite the rain on Jan. 7.
“We certainly would not cancel an EMS ceremony because of rain,” said Karen Guillot, COO of St. Charles Parish Hospital. “EMS is out there 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
V. J. St. Pierre, parish president, helped cut the ribbon during the ceremony.
“I think this facility is a great addition to the East Bank and to the parish,” St. Pierre said.
The new location has the “latest and greatest” technology, according to EMS Director Ken Rousseau.
Each EMT paramedic has his or her own portable radio, which will soon be upgraded to an even better quality radio. In each ambulance there is a high-band radio that can communicate with the fire department, the parish’s Emergency Operations Center and the statewide hospital emergency frequency. Each unit also has cell phone capabilities.
The new building has the ability to communicate with all statewide healthcare providers.
The building is also hurricane-ready. It has communications systems to support EMS to be sustainable in any event, a generator, a large storage area that can be used as sleeping quarters for EMS workers in case of a disaster, a tank-less water heater so that multiple people can bathe and even a plasma TV.
“We are completely prepared for anything that’s thrown our way,” Rousseau said. “Everything here is brand new except the bricks.”
The building is not the only part of EMS that is being renovated. They also have two new EMS ambulances and soon each ambulance unit will have a laptop for constant communications and directions, Rousseau said.
“We’re looking at a great presence here on the East Bank. We have a lot of assets here and we’re very proud of them,” Rousseau said. “It takes all of us to make this boat float, and we have a very fine boat here.”
There are plans to have a similar permanent location on the West Bank, but it is not currently the next project on the hospital’s list.
“With the number of residents in the parish, we need to maintain this presence on both sides (of the river),” Rousseau said.
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