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AMED's new headquarters building in Lakemont is still empty, and its punch list is still unfinished, but this week it's hosting its first event: a training session, fulfilling one of its main purposes -- as an educational center.
Because there is no furniture yet, AMED had to rent tables and chairs for the active shooter rescue task force classes being conducted with the National Tactical Officers Association under auspices of the South Central Mountains Regional Task Force, said AMED Executive Director Gary Watters at a board meeting this week.
Full occupancy may still be a month away, and some punch list items won't be done until spring, according to Watters.
But internet equipment soon will be installed, along with a phone system, he said.
Among the first permanent occupants may be the Lakemont ambulance crew, which has been housed at Lakemont Park since the organization left its former Lakemont substation at the Lakemont Volunteer Fire Company building in 2018, Watters said.
The organization has been eager to get them out of those temporary digs.
One of the tricky parts of moving will be activation of the computer and phone system, which will become the primary network center for the organization, according to Watters.
It will mean swapping the current Lakemont "subnet" with the primary network in the current headquarters building on Seventh Avenue in Altoona, Watters said.
"It sounds easy," he said. "But something is going to happen, for sure."
During the swap, there will be no phone service "for a short period," Watters said.
The rescue class this week would have been held in State College except for the new building's availability, according to Watters.
Holding it in Lakemont makes it convenient for participating local police officers, he said.
The training space will be mainly needed so AMED can offer courses to rebuild the sagging regional roster of ambulance workers, doing its part to help correct a national problem, Watters has said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.