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EMS forced to evacuate building
  
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By ANNA SCHUMANN
In the midst of hiring new employees, taking on a 30 percent higher call volume, and working out communication system issues, Northwest Emergency Medical Services had to deal with an even bigger challenge: a forced evacuation from its long-time home on Holderrieth Road.
Northwest EMS Chief Brian Petrilla said he found out Sept. 26, that the building had shifted and was unsafe. By that Friday afternoon, the EMS was out of the building.
A few months earlier, EMS had relocated its administrative offices and dispatch center to a building on Quinn Road but continued to dispatch from the building on Holderrieth. Petrilla said plans had been, and still are, underway to build a building next to the one on Quinn, but no construction has begun.
The administrative building is not big enough to house the entire operation of four ambulances, crew and staff, so currently two ambulances and crew run out of the office on Quinn, and one runs out of each of the Tomball Fire Department stations.
This means the communication system must also reflect the changes in ambulance location. Rather than dispatching from one station, now they dispatch from three. This process normally takes weeks, Petrilla said, but they were forced to do it overnight.
Additionally, most of the equipment from the Holderrieth building will have to be moved into the Quinn building; the rest is to be in a portable storage unit outside the Holderrieth building.
The building on Holderrieth has been owned by Tomball Regional Medical Center since 1996. After being used for a private medical practice, it became the EMS building in 2000.
Darrell Pile, executive vice president of TRMC, said following the medical center’s inspection of all its buildings after Hurricane Ike, it was determined the building, which sits on brick piers, had shifted. In some places, the deck visibly pulls away from the building and the wood exterior pushed out. The hurricane also caused roof damage and part of the building to split on the exterior.
Pile said the hospital’s diagnostic imaging building also incurred roof damage significant enough that both floors are completely inhabitable.
Pile said the hospital plans to demolish the former EMS dispatch building but a date has not yet been set and there are no plans for the land use yet.
Petrilla said the hospital, fire department and city have been wonderful about accommodating EMS and its move. Because of everyone’s hospitality, he said, no one should notice a difference in how they are treated if they call EMS for help.
“They won’t notice a difference in the level of service or care,” he said. “Our job is still to get the best equipment in the most expedient way with the best-trained personnel.”
Northwest EMS Chief Brian Petrilla said he found out Sept. 26, that the building had shifted and was unsafe. By that Friday afternoon, the EMS was out of the building.
A few months earlier, EMS had relocated its administrative offices and dispatch center to a building on Quinn Road but continued to dispatch from the building on Holderrieth. Petrilla said plans had been, and still are, underway to build a building next to the one on Quinn, but no construction has begun.
The administrative building is not big enough to house the entire operation of four ambulances, crew and staff, so currently two ambulances and crew run out of the office on Quinn, and one runs out of each of the Tomball Fire Department stations.
This means the communication system must also reflect the changes in ambulance location. Rather than dispatching from one station, now they dispatch from three. This process normally takes weeks, Petrilla said, but they were forced to do it overnight.
Additionally, most of the equipment from the Holderrieth building will have to be moved into the Quinn building; the rest is to be in a portable storage unit outside the Holderrieth building.
The building on Holderrieth has been owned by Tomball Regional Medical Center since 1996. After being used for a private medical practice, it became the EMS building in 2000.
Darrell Pile, executive vice president of TRMC, said following the medical center’s inspection of all its buildings after Hurricane Ike, it was determined the building, which sits on brick piers, had shifted. In some places, the deck visibly pulls away from the building and the wood exterior pushed out. The hurricane also caused roof damage and part of the building to split on the exterior.
Pile said the hospital’s diagnostic imaging building also incurred roof damage significant enough that both floors are completely inhabitable.
Pile said the hospital plans to demolish the former EMS dispatch building but a date has not yet been set and there are no plans for the land use yet.
Petrilla said the hospital, fire department and city have been wonderful about accommodating EMS and its move. Because of everyone’s hospitality, he said, no one should notice a difference in how they are treated if they call EMS for help.
“They won’t notice a difference in the level of service or care,” he said. “Our job is still to get the best equipment in the most expedient way with the best-trained personnel.”
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