In times of need

Logan County paramedics

[MAY 18, 2000]  Dial 9-1-1 and get years of dedicated service from the Logan County Paramedic Association.  Paramedic Steve Siltman is general manager for the day-to-day activities of the association.  He and many of his co-workers previously served the area through the Lincoln/Logan Ambulance Service run by Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital and now work for the Logan County Paramedic Association (LCPA) the only organization in the county to have an advanced life support transport service.

In fact, Logan County was the first to have advanced life support capabilities in rural downstate Illinois, said Siltman. The association is licensed by the Illinois Department of Public Health and has 13 full-time paramedics, including the general manager, and 11 part-time medics.

 


[Paramedics to the rescue: (left to right)
Jill Peterson, Tina Pitchford, Polly Riggs
and Steve Siltman, general manager]

 

The paramedics work 24-hour shifts beginning at 7 a.m. There are three shifts, each with its own manager: John Olmstead, A-shift; Penny Thomas, B-shift; and Tina Pitchford, C- shift. Each shift is staffed with four medics. The state requires that one medic staff each ambulance; LCPA uses two. Siltman said, "We feel that two paramedics offer a checking system when making and acting on decisions."

All 911 calls go directly to the communications room of the Logan County Safety Complex in Lincoln. Radio operators receive the calls, and the computer automatically identifies the location of the telephone and its rescue district. The operator dispatches the rescue squad and the ambulance service for the caller’s district. The rescue squads, usually attached to a fire department, are generally the first responders. Rescue squad members are Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) equipped with basic medical training. The rescuers inform the dispatcher of the basic problem, and that information is relayed to the ambulance en route.

 

 

Upon the arrival of the ambulance, the paramedics take over. The rescue squad stays with the ambulance until the patient is loaded, and if an extra pair of hands is needed, a rescue squad member may ride in the ambulance to the hospital. Once the patient is on board, the paramedics call the hospital with the patient’s vital signs, medical history and to get further instructions. Hospital emergency personnel meet the ambulance at the hospital doors. Once the patient is in the emergency room, a paramedic gives an updated report of the patient’s condition and completes a run sheet that outlines everything that was done to the patient. The ambulance is then cleaned up and prepared for the next run.

Siltman said that on average, calls in the city take one hour from the receipt of the call to the final paperwork. County calls may take one to three hours, especially if it is a case where the patient is taken to a trauma center. If both crews are dispatched and a third emergency call is received, LCPA has a contract with an ambulance service in Mason City. They would come to Lincoln and be on standby. Mason City has two ambulance providers.

 

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LCPA receives approximately 3000 calls per year or nine calls per day. The majority of their calls are emergency 911 calls, approximately 140 calls per month. Forty calls per month are for hospital-to-hospital transfers, and there are 50 to 60 routine, non-emergency calls requesting transports from the hospital to nursing homes for patients who cannot be taken by car.

 

 

According to Siltman, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital (ALMH) had run the ambulance service since the 1970s. When ALMH decided not to renew their contract, the county board put out a bid for a new ambulance provider. The Logan County Paramedic Association won the bid. They put sheets on the guerneys and opened Dec. 1, 1999. The LCPA is a privately owned, incorporated, not-for-profit organization governed by a 10-member board comprised of members throughout the county.

LCPA rents space from ALMH and is located behind the hospital. There is a five-bay garage for the ambulances and a house that serves as office space and living quarters for those on duty.

 


[Five- bay garage for the
ambulance service vehicles] 

 

"There is not much of a profit margin in an ambulance service," Siltman said. "There is a county tax levy that helps us to obtain equipment. Our pay and benefits are a little higher, our working conditions are better, and our ambulances and equipment are maintained better than many ambulance services."

Employment trends show that there is a shortage of paramedics. Siltman said, "You won’t get rich, but you can make a decent living. Most of the people who do it, love it, and this is what they want to do."

[Kym C. Ammons-Scott]

 


Field trips bring many children
to Lincoln

[MAY 17, 2000]  If you think there are a lot more school buses in town this week than usual, you’re right. It’s field trip time, and a growing number of schools in the area are making Lincoln a destination. Thressia Usherwood, executive director of the Tourism Bureau of Logan County, is getting so many requests she’s having a hard time scheduling everyone who wants to come.

On Tuesday Lincoln was full of first-graders. In the morning, classes came by bus from Congerville and Goodfield to learn about Lincoln the town, Lincoln the man, and what goes on in a courthouse. After their tour, these children climbed on the northbound Amtrak for a ride on the train to Bloomington. Usherwood and her assistant, Heidi Browne, barely had time to say goodbye to that group before meeting the southbound train and 83 first-graders from St. Clare’s School in Bloomington.

"It’s going to be like this all week," Usherwood said. To help handle the crowds, she calls upon local historian Paul Gleason and Lincoln impersonator Charles Ott.

 


[Charles Ott, Abraham Lincoln impersonator, talks to children on a field trip to Lincoln.]

 

At the State Bank of Lincoln facility at Broadway and Sangamon, the first-graders measured their hands and feet against Lincoln’s, many asking what size shoes he wore (probably a 15). They saw the Lloyd Ostendorf paintings and learned that Lincoln the boy didn’t have paper so he had to scratch out his math problems on the fireplace shovel. They also learned that, because there were no motels, Lincoln and other circuit riders stayed the night in farmhouses, where they were welcomed because they brought news and conversation.

 


[Drew Schrock of Congerville measures his hands and feet against casts of Abraham Lincoln's 
huge hands and size-15 feet.]

 

In photographs and life masks they saw how much Lincoln aged after he became president. "It was a stressful time for him," Usherwood said. "He worried about a lot of things, especially about the boys getting killed in the Civil War."

At the watermelon statue at the depot, Lincoln impersonator Charles Ott, with beard, top hat and long black coat, explained how Lincoln the man christened Lincoln the town with the juice of a watermelon squeezed into a tin cup.

"There are 27 other towns named Lincoln in the United States, but this is the only one named for him before he became president," Ott told the group.

At the courthouse, the children saw a statue of Lincoln without a beard and learned why he grew it.

"A little girl wrote to him and said, ‘My brother looks good with chin-whiskers, and I think you would, too.’" Usherwood told them. "So he grew some. When you see a picture of him with a beard, you know he was president then."

 

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At the courthouse they were told that the 1905 building was deliberately constructed above street level so people would have to look up. "They wanted to show people that they should look up to their government," Usherwood told them.

 


[First-graders from Congerville study the mosaic tile seal on the floor of the Logan County Courthouse.]


Sitting in a courtroom on the third floor impressed most of the first-graders. They learned that people take their hats off as a sign of respect. They also learned that the wire racks under the chairs had been put there so men wearing hats could put them safely under the chairs.

The first-graders were intrigued by seeing prisoners in striped suits in the courthouse and wanted to know what they had done to get into trouble. They also learned that the authentic Civil War cannon on the grounds is worth at least $10,000, because that was the price a collector offered for it. The county board refused to sell it.

 

 

The telephone booth on the top of City Hall was another highlight. The children were told that at one time tornado spotters used to sit up there and watch for twisters. If they spotted one, they would push a button and a siren would sound.

 

 

Although Lincoln area students also take the tour, 90 percent of the children who come are from other places, most more than 30 miles away. Many of them are repeats. Usherwood’s tours become more sophisticated for older students and adults. "I can give a tour that lasts one hour or one that takes four hours," she said.

 

[Joan Crabb]

 


Training in city garage keeps firefighters updated

[MAY 16, 2000]  Inside the city garage across from Latham Park, portions of a house, built to dimension, have been erected to help conduct one of the training programs established by the Lincoln Fire Department.

Ken Ebelherr, fire chief, said that the training is ongoing and routine programs are provided by department employees for others on the Lincoln squad.

"The facilities in the garage are also utilized by other fire personnel that work at fire stations in other Logan County towns," he said.

 

 

The department also uses a number of videotapes and related written material. A hazardous materials class is conducted yearly to refresh techniques. Updates related to the dealing with hazardous spills are done routinely.

Ebelherr said that one current project is training employees to use a computer system that is tied into the University of Illinois's fire training database.

 

 

"We are going to utilize the computer lab at Heartland College so that more employees can be trained in these programs," he added.

"The training conducted in the city garage is twofold," according to Don Fulk, assistant chief on C-shift.

"The portion that contains the partial structure is used to train the men on how to extricate other firefighters from a burning structure, should that become necessary.

 

 

"The interior of the building is blanketed with smoke from a smoke machine in order to duplicate conditions that would be present," he added.

The other side of the garage also duplicates rooms that may be found in residences. The rooms are periodically rearranged so that the conditions vary each time a session is conducted.

 

 

Fulk said that mannequins also are used to place in various parts of the house in order to typify a residential fire.

 

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The training not only keeps the firefighters current and prepared, Ebelherr said, but it also helps with the rating the city receives from the Insurance Service Organization.

"Various factors that relate to a fire department's ability to respond to a fire, such as water supply, number of personnel, communications with the 911 system and training programs, all are graded to determine each particular fire department's probability to effectively fight a fire," he said.

Lincoln's rating is one of the highest that can be attained.

Ebelherr said that another program that will become more visible is called the 704 program.

"The project places colored symbols on the outside of businesses that contain flammable or toxic chemicals," he said. "If a fire should occur, firefighters would know when they arrived what type of fire they would have to fight, according to the rating symbol placed at the business," Ebelherr added.

 

 

Not only is mental agility required in order to fight fires, but physical ability is necessary in order to tolerate the demands of such a profession. Tucked away in a small room in the basement of city hall are various pieces of exercise equipment that are at the disposal of the employees.

The 21 men on the three shifts, plus the chief, comprise the city's department. Although training is routine, each fire can be different. Fire inspections are made in various businesses, places of employment and public places.

 

 

"The purpose of these inspections," according to Ebelherr, "is twofold. One, we want to help prevent situations that could create fires, and secondly, it keeps our personnel current on any changes that have been made that could affect the department's response to a fire," he said.

Training, whether it is within the department or other departments or in the community with the "Safe House," provides not only the citizens of Lincoln but those in Logan County as well, with personnel ready to respond and a system that complies with the most up-to-date techniques.

 

[Fuzz Werth]