In 2014, the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) established the Mississippi Center for Emergency Services (MCES) as part of the State’s first emergency medical response system. UMMC used knowledge gained, in part, during and following Hurricane Katrina to identify and fill critical voids in communications and vital services between the hospital, state, and local government agencies, and medical and emergency first responders statewide.

UMMC consolidated all services provided by the MCES to one facility in March 2021 with completion of a new, state-of-the-art facility on their Jackson Campus. The new $15,000,000 facility provides ample centralized space for ground and air transport vehicles, areas for emergency response training and education, and state-wide communication services. Specific services include pediatric and neonatal transport, Mississippi MED-COM, public safety support, and AirCare, Mississippi’s most advanced medical helicopter system.

BCD addressed the complex technical challenges of project design and construction within the highly expansive Yazoo clays utilizing the following:

• Specialty H-Piles. 56 H-piles in concrete provide slope reinforcement and support for retaining walls and deadman anchors.
• Bell-Bottom Drilled Piers (Unique to Jackson Area). Used to support heavy building loads above a void space in expansive Yazoo clay environments.
• Void Spaces and Buffers. An 18-in. deep void space underneath the floor slab allows for unimpeded heaving of the Yazoo clays. A special 5-ft thick “Buffer” of nonexpansive soil above the Yazoo clays protects exterior paving slabs around the building.
• French Drains. Used to collect and drain unintended water from void spaces beneath the building.