September 01, 2005
GMC, Illini Employees Activated With State Disaster Team
Silvis, IL - Two employees of Genesis Medical Center, Illini Campus who are members of the Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team (IMERT) were activated Thursday to respond to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Mike Epping, emergency response coordinator at Illini, and Laura Kaha, a paramedic, were dispatched Thursday from Springfield with other IMERT team members.
Epping, B.S.N., is a former U.S. Navy Corpsman who is specially trained in public health nursing. He is a team leader for IMERT.
Kaha will be responding to emergency needs of individuals displaced by Katrina.
The Illini employees are expected to be gone for at least a week.
IMERT members are trained to respond to natural, technological, chemical and manmade hazards and disasters. Coursework and training includes damage assessment, decision making during crisis, mass fatalities response and emergency management.
Andrea Epping, Michael Epping’s wife and director of nursing at Illini Restorative Care, said he was anxious to use his training in a valuable way. “His adrenaline was definitely pumping. He was anxious to go down and help. He was excited about putting the training to use where it is badly needed.
“This kind of thing is not for me, but Michael has always been interested in public health and disaster preparedness. He is interested in community-based disaster response.’’
Team members, who wear black clothing similar to military fatigues and thick boots, were required to take enough food and water with them for a week.
“We did some massive shopping,’’ Andrea Epping said. “He has large water jugs, cans of soup and stew, crackers, peanut butter and breakfast bars. He also has a small Sterno stove to cook on.
“He didn’t know what to expect. He just said not to expect a call possibly for the entire week he was scheduled to be away.’’
IMERT was formed in 1999. There are teams organized throughout the state. Currently, there are approximately 600 medically trained volunteers who are part of IMERT teams in Illinois.
