Friday, June 28

DHS to start moving LDC residents

[JUNE 28, 2002]  The Department of Human Services plans to begin moving residents of the Lincoln Developmental Center out of the facility soon, possibly as early as next week, according to both a DHS spokesman and members of the local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents most of LDC’s workers.

Dan Senters, AFSCME Local 425 spokesman, said yesterday that 120 of the 242 residents at the Lincoln facility for the developmentally disabled are ready to move. Beds are available for them in other state-operated facilities, and their families or guardians have been notified.

 

Reginald Marsh, spokesman for DHS, also confirmed that the state plans to begin moving LDC residents soon.

"We are going to begin the move in an orderly fashion," he said. "The residents are going to various state-operated facilities. Parents and guardians are aware of the plans.

"The state legislature has made a clear decision not to provide funding for LDC, and the governor has decided to close the facility."

Marsh said he did not know exact numbers of residents who will be moved soon or their destinations.

Senters, however, said that 52 residents are scheduled to leave next week, and shortly after another 68 are scheduled to be moved.

On July 2, he said, three residents are scheduled to go to Fox Center in Dwight, four to Jacksonville and six to Ludeman Center in Park Forest. On July 8, 10 are scheduled to be moved to Murray in Centralia, 19 to Howe in Tinley Park and nine to Shapiro in Kankakee.

 

Senters said he believed the state has no legal right to move the residents because of decisions pending in the appellate court.

Logan County Circuit Judge Don Behle issued an injunction in March which barred DHS from moving any of the 240 remaining residents without a permit from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. The state appealed, and the appellate court heard testimony from both sides on Wednesday. However, the court has not yet handed down a ruling.

 

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The lawsuit filed by AFSCME and others, including parents of an LDC resident, contends that the state cannot move residents until the permit is in hand.

DHS, however, has already applied for the permit and contends that it need not wait for the permit’s final approval before beginning to move residents. The IHFPB is a 15-man board appointed by the governor which represents various health-care constituencies.

"The state is moving them in spite of the court order. They believe it doesn’t apply to them," Senters said.

 

The Lincoln facility has been fighting downsizing and finally, closure, since incidents of abuse and neglect of residents were reported last fall. A new management team was brought to LDC, and monitors from other state-operated facilities were on the grounds to oversee the residents’ care. Gov. George Ryan began moving residents out of the facility, and in February announced a plan to downsize LDC to 100 residents and about 200 workers.

In June, however, citing more charges of abuse and neglect, Ryan announced that he was closing LDC completely. AFSCME and the Lincoln Parents Association, which has been strongly supportive of LDC, say they will not give up the fight to save the embattled facility.

[Joan Crabb]

 


Firemen practice for the real thing

HazMat drill at sewer plant

[JUNE 28, 2002]  The call reporting a chlorine leak came in at 7:30 a.m., and minutes later the Lincoln Fire Department was on its way to the city’s wastewater treatment plant. Shortly afterward, the Logan County Paramedics and the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency were on the scene also.

Fortunately, it was nothing more than an exercise to train fire department and sewer plant personnel in the proper procedure for dealing with a potentially dangerous situation. At close range, chlorine gas can kill in less than a minute by eating away and collapsing the lungs.

 

It can also form a plume that can travel to other areas. With the wind in the southwest, one sewer plant worker pointed out, the gas would have traveled to Lincoln Community High School, the Recreation Center and Friendship Manor.

Since the report included a person inside the building where the leak occurred, two firemen suited up quickly in their turnout gear, including gas masks, pulled the "employee," (a life-size dummy) out of the building and worked to resuscitate him. Paramedics were on hand to transport the employee to the hospital.

The firemen then began spraying water on the "plume" of gas to knock it down and keep it from spreading. Had they sprayed water inside the building, the water and the chlorine would have created hydrochloric acid, which, besides being fatal to humans, would also corrode the building’s metal pipes and fittings.

 

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To shut off the valve and stop the chlorine leak, fire department personnel had to suit up in hazmat gear. An area also had to be set up to decontaminate the firefighters after they turned off the chlorine and exited the building. Four firefighters put on red-orange suits with breathing apparatus strapped to their backs; two were to go in, and two were to stand by in case the first two needed help.

Others wore white decontamination suits to protect themselves as they hosed down their fellow firefighters who had gone inside.

Tom Martin, incident commander, notified the Lincoln Police Department and the local utility companies to let them know about the problem. Then, because all four firetrucks were on the scene at the sewer plant, he asked Lincoln Rural Fire Department to stand by in case of problems in Lincoln.

"It was a successful exercise," said Mark Miller, who was safety officer for the exercise. "We came out here and did the job we had to do."

 

"Through training and teamwork we got the job done," Martine said. "We worked multi-jurisdictionally, and we had fantastic cooperation from all agencies involved."

[Joan Crabb]

[Click here for pictures from Thursday morning.]


Gov. Ryan approves $1.8 million
for new Pace buses

[JUNE 28, 2002]  CHICAGO — Gov. George Ryan announced Tuesday the approval of $1.8 million in Illinois FIRST funds for new buses and paratransit vehicles for Pace, the suburban bus system in the Chicago region.

"Illinois FIRST was designed to not only repair, replace and upgrade our vital infrastructure, but to also improve the quality of life for Illinois residents," Gov. Ryan said. "These funds will be used to leverage $7.3 million in federal funds which will permit Pace to purchase seven new buses, 28 paratransit vehicles and other needed equipment, thereby providing for more comfortable and efficient suburban bus service for thousands of riders in the Chicago area."

 

The seven buses will play a vital role in the lives of thousands of people in and around Chicagoland by providing accessible transportation to and from work or the doctor’s office. These buses will replace 12-year-old buses that require expensive maintenance in order to remain in operation. The paratransit vehicles are smaller than buses and are equipped with a lift or ramp for the elderly and people in a wheelchair. The paratransit vehicles will replace equipment up to seven years old and with more than 100,000 miles on it, most of which has provided 1.5 million rides a year in the six-county region. Pace also will replace 11 vehicles for maintenance and support staff.

 

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The bus system will also be purchasing equipment that will better secure wheelchairs in buses, which will be an upgrade in comfort and convenience. Pace also plans to replace the roofs at both the North and South Division garages. Computer equipment will be upgraded which will allow paratransit staff to monitor reservation calls at remote ADA and dial-a-ride sites.

The Illinois FIRST funds are made available through the State Mass Transportation Capital Grant Program.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]

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