[SEPT. 12, 2005] SPRINGFIELD - Governor Rod R.
Blagojevich today remembered the upcoming fourth anniversary of the
horrific September 11th terrorist attacks on New York City and
Washington, DC. In the wake of those attacks, Illinois has taken a
number of steps in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring
in this state.
"The horror of September 11th opened eyes across the country to the
pressing need for better preparation in the face of an enemy like
terrorism," said Gov. Blagojevich. "As we approach the fourth
anniversary of those events, my heart goes out to all those who were
victims of 9-11 and their loved ones. I want them to know that their
heartache has not occurred in vain, and that we are doing all we can
in Illinois to prevent terrorism."
A number of steps, as recently as last month, have
been taken to improve security and preparedness
around the state. They include:
Safer utilities: In August, legislation was enacted that
increased security for all municipal utilities in Illinois. The
new law outlines specific safeguards that will be adopted by
municipal utility facilities,
including electric public utilities, restricting
access to critical infrastructure.
Safer airports: It is now a Class 4 felony,
punishable by 1 to 3 years in prison, to impersonate a pilot,
airline employee, airport employee or contractor in restricted
areas of an airport. A second bill made trespassing in an
airport's restricted area a Class 4 felony, and trespassing while
in possession of a weapon, replica of a weapon, or ammunition a
Class 3 felony.
Prepared for bioterrorism: Last year, Illinois
retained the nation's highest rating ("Green") from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to manage the
Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) during an act of bio-terrorism
or other mass casualty event. Illinois is one of only six states
to achieve this preparedness rating.
Effective response to public health emergencies: In March
2004, the Illinois-National Electronic Disease Surveillance System
(I-NEDSS) was implemented.
I-NEDSS is a secure, Web-based system for hospitals, doctors and
other health care providers to electronically report infectious
diseases. The system allows medical professionals and public
health officials to effectively respond to public health
emergencies immediately. I-NEDSS is part of a nation-wide system
linking state and local public health departments with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Up-to-the-minute information on hospital
availability: In March 2004, a Web-based version of the hospital
bypass system was launched that provides the state with
up-to-the-minute information from more than 200 hospitals in
Illinois on the availability of beds and other critical health
care services necessary to guide the response to an act of
terrorism or other public health emergencies.
Emergency Medical Response Team: The Illinois Emergency
Medical Response Team (IMERT) has expanded to 12 teams and 900
participants. IMERT responds and assists with emergency medical
treatment of mass casualty incidents when activated by the
Director of Public Health. Each team consists of a physician,
nurse, paramedic and an EMT that volunteer their time. The state
continues to recruit more volunteers to participate in this
effort. Some members of IMERT assisted victims in Baton Rouge
following in the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe.
Readiness exercises: The Cities Readiness
Initiative (CRI) is a partnership with Chicago, St. Louis and
neighboring states, which focuses on conducting readiness
exercises between large metropolitan areas and states and how the
different entities can work together on preparedness.
Better prepared public health system: The state created the
Illinois Public Health Mutual Aid System (IPHMAS) last year to
strengthen the preparedness of the public health system in
Illinois. All the local health departments throughout the state
were called
upon to sign on to the project, which provides for the sharing of
resources in the event of a bio-terrorist attack or other
emergency. All 95 local health departments in the state heeded the
call to action and signed on to participate in the system.
The pact provides personnel, equipment, and supplies assistance to
a stricken area by local health departments.
Better prepared to deal with chemical attacks: The Chem-Pack
project is an initiative geared toward raising preparedness
efforts related to responding to chemical or nerve agent terrorist
attacks. Illinois
distributed the chem-packs last fall to hospitals around the state
to protect against a nerve agent attack. The packs contain
medicine to treat nerve agent exposure.
Specialists available to deal with biological
attacks: The State Weapons of Mass Destruction (SWMD) Team is a
multi-agency effort including the Illinois
State Police, Secretary of State Police, Illinois Department of
Public Health, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and
Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The team is trained to
respond to a biological, chemical or radiological agent attack.
Specially trained individuals determine what type of agent has
been used and how to respond.
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