NCJ Number
189833
Journal
The Beacon Volume: 3 Issue: 6 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 1-3
Date Published
March 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The Illinois Mobile Emergency Response Team (IMERT) developed educational and infrastructure to formalize the ability to respond to mass casualty events.
Abstract
In the summer of 1999, the Illinois Department of Public Health, along with a group of physicians, received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for seed funding for IMERT. The IMERT Executive Council (IMERTEC) was created to oversee the development of IMERT. Members include emergency physicians, emergency nurses and paramedics with leadership experience in EMS and disaster planning, as well as selected individuals with relevant military and technical expertise. These members developed a curriculum for a half-day seminar designed to meet the needs of their professions and covers terrorism from the perspective of emergency medical staff. Topics discussed included hazardous materials and terrorist acts, descriptions of signs of exposure to chemical agents, and development of a mobile emergency response team. IMERT also created a website that provides news and information about team activities. A standard IMERT response will consist of four medical personnel comprised of a Medical Doctor, Registered Nurse, Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P), and one other member, with the minimum of an Emergency Medical Technician-Basic (EMT-B) qualification. IMERTEC is in the process of finalizing written team response protocols and call-down trees. Teams will be organized throughout the State, based on three regions. Team members will be supported with appropriate equipment as well as provided with educational opportunities in return for their willingness to support the effort.