Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team returns after helping Hurricane Katrina victims         

[SEPT. 9, 2005]  SPRINGFIELD -- Members of the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team returned to Springfield Thursday night after a seven-day deployment mission in Baton Rouge, La. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich dispatched 40 team members Sept. 2 to assist in the hurricane relief efforts. The group of doctors, nurses and paramedics provided medical assessment and treatment to more than 15,000 Hurricane Katrina victims.

"We are proud of the IMERT members who volunteered their time and medical expertise and sacrificed time away from their families to help the sick and injured displaced victims of the hurricane," Blagojevich said. "This team of Illinois citizens is a shining example of how we can all work together to help those in need."

The Illinois medical team set up the first temporary hospital at Louisiana State University's Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The team transported truckloads of medical equipment from Springfield to set up the medical center to care for busloads of displaced citizens needing medical attention over the last week

"This has been a life-changing experience, and the team has worked together in an amazing way," said Dr. Moses Lee, IMERT medical director. "I am proud to lead this team, and they should all feel good about the work they did on this mission."

"This team of medical professionals was faced with significant challenges environmentally, physically and emotionally," said Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, state public health director. "They not only triaged and treated thousands of hurricane victims, but they also witnessed death and new life when delivering babies. Deploying the IMERT to the hurricane scene and successfully completing their mission is evidence that the Illinois preparedness plan works and saves lives."

Blagojevich dispatched the first group of 11 team members on Aug. 31. Those remaining members may return to central Illinois on Saturday.

The Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team is a group of specially trained medical personnel who volunteer their services in crisis situations. The team responds to and assists with emergency medical treatment of mass casualty incidents, natural disasters, and biological and radiological incidents when activated by the Illinois Department of Public Health. Team members consist of nurses, doctors and paramedics.

Since Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, Blagojevich has ordered all state agencies to respond in a coordinated manner to help the recovery and cleanup efforts in the Gulf Coast and the victims coming into Illinois. Illinois' efforts to date include the following:

• The governor has set up a toll-free line to provide Hurricane Katrina victims with immediate assistance regarding social services offered by the state of Illinois, including health care, crisis counseling, food stamps, K-12 public school registration, and services for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities. The number, 1 [phone], is staffed by the Department of Human Services.

• Blagojevich announced the deployment of nearly 1,100 more Illinoisans to help Louisiana respond to the devastation resulting from Hurricane Katrina. The latest deployments include nearly 600 firefighters who left Monday and 500 National Guard troops that were scheduled to leave for Louisiana on Wednesday. This latest deployment brings to 800 the number of Illinois National Guard troops sent to Louisiana.

• A total of 134 highly trained law enforcement officers from state and local agencies were deployed to Louisiana. These include teams trained to deal with weapons of mass destruction, tactical response teams, underwater dive teams, a mobile command post, various all-terrain vehicles, boats and trucks. The Illinois Department of Transportation contributed 500 yards of fencing and 500 stakes on two lowboys pulled by two semis in the law enforcement convoy.

• The governor dispatched 51 members of the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team to Louisiana to assist with care of the massive number of sick and injured victims from Hurricane Katrina.

• The governor dispatched an 11-member incident management team to George County, Miss., to assist local emergency managers during the crisis.

• The governor ordered the state's public schools to waive residency requirements and enroll any child displaced by Hurricane Katrina who relocates to live with family, friends or in a shelter in Illinois.

• The state's public universities have also responded to the governor's call to provide accommodations for college students displaced by the hurricane. The state's 39 community colleges will accommodate any Illinois resident displaced from higher education studies because of the hurricane, while Illinois' 12 public universities will also take in students affected by the destruction along the Gulf Coast. Students are encouraged to contact admissions offices at each university to begin an expedited process to enroll in the institution and to access university services like financial aid.

• For hurricane victims, the Department of Natural Resources and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency are offering free camping and have removed length-of-stay requirements at all state parks and historic sites that offer camping.

• The Illinois Department of Transportation has waived certain transportation rules to allow standard-sized semis carrying supplies and materials to Louisiana to be overweight by up to 15,000 pounds when they travel on Illinois roads. Currently, a standard-sized semi is allowed to weigh 80,000 pounds when traveling through Illinois. The Department of Transportation will also grant emergency permits to companies that need to move oversized equipment to the affected area.

• The Illinois Department of Corrections is making available various items through the Illinois Emergency Management Agency's emergency procurement system, including 256,000 half-pints of water, 8,500 blankets, 18,300 clothing items and 2,900 dozen packages of cleaning supplies. The Department of Corrections has also delivered 3,000 bedrolls to the Red Cross in Hillside.

• The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs has sent toiletries and food to the Tinley Park facility and, in collaboration with several other federal and private agencies, will send food to the Gulf Coast states.

• The Department of Central Management Services has made available its Bureau of Communication and Computer Services to help provide communications assistance to devastated areas. Using broadband services, including high-speed data transmission to remote areas underserved by local carriers, the bureau can provide relief command centers with uplinks for phone and Internet access and can provide links to shelters so displaced individuals can call loved ones.

• The Department of Human Services has sent staff skilled in processing food stamps, to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture implement a disaster food stamp program in 25 Louisiana counties.

• The Illinois Department of Agriculture has made the Expo Building on the Illinois State Fairgrounds available to the Illinois State Police as a staging area to consolidate personnel, equipment and supplies in preparation for deployment. The building could be used for several days, providing a secure, easily accessible location for supplies and vehicles of all sizes.

• The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of Public Health have dispatched 12 specialists to Louisiana. The specialists are members of four environmental health strike teams being sent by the state at the request of the Louisiana Emergency Management Agency. Their expertise includes drinking water, sewage, food safety and food salvage. In addition, two Environmental Protection Agency trucks, stocked with emergency response equipment, and two Department of Public Health vehicles have been deployed.

• The State Emergency Operations Center continues to be fully activated with representatives of more than a dozen state agencies and Illinois Emergency Management Agency personnel, who are assessing assets their agencies could provide to assist disaster response and recovery efforts. The center is in continual contact with Emergency Management Assistance Compact officials in the affected states to coordinate requests for assistance with assets Illinois can offer.

[News release from the Illinois Department of Public Health and the governor's office]