When surrounding counties unexpectedly lost their ambulance service Wednesday night, MedStat quickly stepped in to help.
Twenty-three counties in Mississippi were about to lose their service at midnight after Emergystat went out of business Wednesday.
Barry Eskridge, owner of MedStat Ambulance Services, the Leflore County ambulance provider, said the company put up six ambulances for three counties.
Two ambulances went to Holmes County, where MedStat is the sole provider of ambulance coverage for now. MedStat partnered with Oktibbeha County Hospital to provide service for Winston County, and it is providing backup coverage to Sunflower County.
All 23 counties that lost service were able to find coverage before midnight, Eskridge said.
“The ambulance industry around the state has really stepped up to the plate,” he said.
Eskridge said the emergency came on suddenly.
“My phone started lighting up about 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon,” he said.
He was up all night trying to work out arrangements and said his cell phone ran totally down for the first time ever.
Within an hour, eight MedStat employees came in from home to man the ambulances, he said.
Eskridge was on his way to Holmes County this morning to discuss a permanent solution with county officials.
The state Department of Health said Emergystat closed because of a "lack of liability insurance and serious financial problems." The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October.
Eskridge told the counties involved not to worry about financial arrangements right now.
“I told them we’re going to take of them, and we’ll take care of it later. It’s not a time to be worrying about that,” Eskridge said.
The affected counties are Amite, Coahoma, Chickasaw, Claiborne, Greene, Holmes, Jefferson, Kemper, Marshall, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Panola, Pearl River, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tunica, Wilkinson, Winston and Yazoo counties.
Officials said residents should continue to call 911 in an emergency.
