Urban Innovation in Illinois

Peoria County Sheriff's deputies responding to certain types of call-outs are putting themselves in dangerous situations that have the potential to result in injury or death of the officers themselves, innocent bystanders, or suspects. These types of call-outs include high risk arrests, barricaded suspects, and hostage situations. Typically, medical support in these situations consists of EMTs on standby in an ambulance parked 1/2 block or greater from the actual event. Were an officer, bystander or suspect to require medical attention, precious moments would be lost bringing the ambulance on-scene and bringing medical technicians up to speed on the incident. Top law enforcement officials in Peoria County, and those deputies responding to a call, are well attuned to the high risk of injury and/or death such volatile situations present; while medical support is in the vicinity, it is not immediately available nor is it the same quality care an emergency room physician could provide. Going into a situation with a high likelihood of physical harm and no medical personnel on-scene was unacceptable to top law enforcement officials in Peoria County.

To address this issue, Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy, his staff, along with John Wipfler, MD, Terry Kaufman, and other key OSF St. Francis Medical Center personnel developed a more acceptable form of medical support in emergencies such as those described above as well as during law enforcement training exercises. Now, Peoria County has a Special Tactical Assistance Trauma Team (STATT) comprised of local physicians and medical technicians that voluntarily respond with law enforcement officers to the scene of these types of high risk call-outs and training drills. STATT's presence on-scene not only addresses the issue of immediate medical care, but also increases the quality of care available in that emergency room physicians are now administering aid rather than lesser trained EMTs. STATT physicians and technicians have been appointed auxiliary deputies and are trained to carry firearms alongside medical equipment into dangerous situations. Currently, Peoria County's STATT has nine medical specialists who respond to call-outs. Since its inception in 1998, the team has responded to 51 calls. On average, three medical technicians and/or physicians respond per call-out.
STATT was created primarily to save lives, be it law enforcement officers', innocent bystanders' or suspects' lives; there are so many cost savings associated with one saved life that it is impossible to enumerate them all. For example, saving lives reduces litigation; wives are less likely to sue the Sheriff's Office if her husband is injured in the line of duty rather than killed in the line of duty. Having emergency medical professionals immediately available to attend to life-threatening injuries incurred by persons involved in a volatile situation saves peace of mind: Sheriff McCoy can rest easier knowing he has provided the best medical support possible for his deputies; Peoria County can rest easier knowing its citizens, innocent or presumed so, will be provided the best medical support possible should they be in need; and OSF St. Francis Medical Center can rest easier knowing its staff is doing what it does best: saving lives.
To quantify the savings: ambulances no longer have to be on standby for $75.00 per hour during a law enforcement emergency, a savings of $7200/year. Volunteer emergency physicians and medical technicians save the Sheriff's Office approximately $37,440/year over paid physicians. When OSF agreed to cover the cost of malpractice insurance and medical equipment for its STATT physicians and technicians at the program's inception, the Sheriff's Office realized, and continues to benefit from, enormous savings. And over $40,000 has been saved in training costs, with each volunteer investing $4000 for his own training. Clearly, the savings is phenomenal and cost should not be a deterrent for implementation of such a program.
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The potential is real; in fact, seven communities in Illinois have already replicated the innovation. STATT has been so well received by the Illinois Tactical Officers Association that other communities and law enforcement agencies have developed similar programs within their own jurisdictions. Both the Sheriff and STATT physicians willingly offer guidance and advice to all interested communities. Dr. Wipfler predicts all 57 Illinois SWAT teams will adopt a program similar to STATT within ten years; eight already have, with seven following Peoria County's lead.

The cost of implementing the Sheriff's Office STATT program was and remains minimal. Each year, the Sheriff's Office budgets $3000 to cover communication equipment and re-qualification costs for trained physicians and technicians. All other costs have been and continue to be incurred by the volunteers themselves and OSF St. Francis Medical Center, as previously described.

Dr. Wipfler and Terry Kaufman, at the time a life-flight pilot for OSF, were an essential part of the brain child for STATT. Initially, they approached the City of Peoria's Police Department, but after several failed attempts to overcome resistance by higher officials, Wipfler and Kaufman sought a cooperative agreement with the Peoria County's Sheriff's Office instead. Mobilizing support for STATT was never an issue for Peoria County. With the Sheriff's strong endorsement, the County Board's Judicial Committee passed the resolution and the full County Board voted unanimously to approve the STATT program.
The Sheriff's Office, with the ability to appoint auxiliary deputies, launched the program past the issue of protection. As auxiliary deputies, STATT physicians are not at any greater risk than other law enforcement officers; the physicians are armed with both the training and equipment to protect themselves. Another concern was liability. This was ironed out in the cooperative agreement the Sheriff's Office developed and maintains with OSF; OSF is responsible for providing malpractice insurance for its volunteer physicians. This limits the doctors who volunteer, however, to those employed by OSF; other physicians would not be covered were they to incur a malpractice suit as a result of action taken during a STATT call-out. Dr. Wipfler and others are currently trying to get legislation passed that would protect all STATT physicians from these types of lawsuits. The legislation is similar to the Good Samaritan Act, in that physicians volunteering for STATT would not be subject to lawsuit. The final hurdle to overcome was gaining approval by the Illinois Department of Public Health, which must designate STATT a pre-hospital EMS agency. In light of so much support for the program, approval and accreditation was readily granted by IDPH.

Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy; E. John Wipfler, MD, attending emergency physician and STATT Medical Director; and Terry Kaufman, former life-flight pilot for OSF St. Francis Medical Center.

Peoria County elected its first sheriff in 1825; since then, the Sheriff's Office has grown to 199 employees who are dedicated to providing law enforcement services to the citizens of Peoria County. The Sheriff's Office serves approximately 183,500 people who live within 629 square miles in central Illinois along the banks of the Illinois River. The County's four cities and eleven villages are connected by 315 miles of county roads, 674 miles of township roads, and 266 miles of state and federal roads. The mission of the Peoria County Sheriff's Office is to work in partnership with the community; to improve quality of life by reducing fear and the incidence of crime; to recognize and resolve problems; and to fulfill law enforcement needs of the citizens of Peoria County, Illinois.

Ed Meister, Lieutenant, Peoria County Sheriff's Office, 301 N Maxwell Road, Peoria, IL 61604; Phone: (309)697-7829; Email: emeister@peoriacounty.org

Jennifer Zinkel, Peoria County Director of Strategic Communications, 324 Main Street, Peoria, IL 61602; Phone: (309)672-6918; Fax: (309)672-6054; Email: jzinkel@peoriacounty.org