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.
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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]
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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.
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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]
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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.
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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]
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