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The children had just finished a tour
of the Stay Alive House and were escaping a fire. Fun? Yes, but also
a very important learning experience for both children and adults.
Alexa Harbour and her sister Callie
both thought that the fire safety house was cool. Callie said she
learned about fire. Jorie Buckles said she had been through the
safety house before and knew about fire.
The fire safety house was part of the
Lincoln Jaycees' Family Safety Day. This year's event was at the
Logan County Paramedic Association building on North Postville Road
from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 19.
The fire safety house was only part of
the day's activities. McGruff the Crime Dog arrived shortly after
the kids scrambled from the fire safety house. The kids enjoyed
visiting with McGruff and learning about crime and safety from the
Lincoln police.
Suddenly there was a whirling sound
coming from the sky. As people looked up they saw a helicopter
circling overhead, preparing to land. The air-evacuation helicopter
was on its way to show people the role the emergency medical service
helicopter plays in Logan County safety. People watched as Ron Botz,
the helicopter pilot, brought the copter in for a landing. They ran
over to see the big bird. The children were all allowed to sit in
the helicopter and to slide through and exit the other side.
The emergency medical air service has a
three-person crew. The pilot, a flight paramedic and a lead flight
nurse make up the crew. The helicopter is similar to a hospital
emergency room. Feron Ice, the regional nurse manager and lead
flight nurse, said that the helicopter they brought was a spare
helicopter; its colors are blue and white. The regular helicopters
are maroon and red. He said you must have 5,000 hours of flying in
order to be a member of the crew. Ninety-eight percent of the pilots
and crew members have had military flying time.
Tony Dowell, the flight paramedic, said
that Illinois has five helicopter bases in Illinois. The bases are
in Springfield, Effingham, Quincy, Marion and Mount Vernon. Crews at
the bases cover specific regions and also go to the other regions to
help each other out. The nurses and paramedics must have at least
three years of training, and five is preferred. Most in Illinois
have 10 years of training. The crews deal with all kinds of
emergencies. Ice said he enjoyed the challenges and helping people.
Other events included seat belt safety
lessons and IDs for kids.
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The Logan County Paramedics gave a tour
of their new headquarters. In November of 2002 they moved from the
Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital to the building they now occupy.
Steve Siltman, CEO of the Logan County Paramedic Association, spoke
highly of their new headquarters. The building, the former site of
Glenn Pontiac, was completely renovated to fit their needs. It has
space for all of their ambulances. The association also has its
secretarial and management offices on the premises, and the upstairs
is home to the paramedics who are on duty.
The Logan County Paramedic Association
has 14 full-time paramedics and 12 part-time paramedics. They work
four to a shift in 24-hour shifts with 48 hours off. When the
paramedics are on duty but not on call, they stay in the upstairs of
the new headquarters.
Siltman says that they have around
3,400 calls per year, an average of eight calls per shift. The
paramedics are connected to the Logan County Safety Complex and go
out on all calls that come in there.
The families that attended the Jaycees'
annual safety day got a good look at all of the features that Logan
County provides for the safety of the county's residents. The people
there were receiving a full serving of safety in two hours, and from
the looks on the faces of the kids and adults the day was a success.
People left knowing that Logan County offered an array of safety
services. They also left knowing more about what to do in case of an
emergency.
Anita Gray, former vice president of
the local Jaycee chapter, organized and helped pull this event
together. The Lincoln Jaycees are the local affiliate of the
Illinois Jaycees. The local chapter currently has 55 members. They
consist of young adults from 21 up to 39 years of age who come
together to do service for the community and to present events that
are fun, educational and supportive.
Other events that the Lincoln Jaycees
are involved in are the annual Easter egg hunt, Christmas Angel Tree
and the Halloween haunted house. The Jayceees also have events at
the Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival and do training on how to be a
better person. Mike Rutledge, the 2003 president of the Lincoln
Jaycees, said that they try to get their members to all be active
and to volunteer to organize events like Family Safety Day.
The Lincoln
Jaycees and everyone involved in the safety event provided a day of
education and fun for those who came.
[Don Todd] |
