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Government

RI County Holds Anthrax Drill

Rock Island County Health Department

After a concert at the i Wireless Center, some local residents are showing signs of being exposed to anthrax. That's the scenario for a drill Thursday for the Rock Island County Health Department, and several other local groups.

Kate Meyer, manager of emergency planning and response, says many other Illinois counties will hold similar drills as part of what's called "a statewide dispensing exercise."
Meyer says the health department responded to some similar, and actual, emergencies in recent years, including an outbreak of Hepatitis A in 2009, and the H1N1 flu.

kmeyer2.mp3
Because of new staff, it's a good idea to practice.

A mock clinic to distribute medicine will be set up at Rock Island High School, from 8:45 to 10:45 am on Thursday. 

All 54 employees of the Rock Island County Health Department will participate, but that's 20 fewer than during some previous disease outbreaks, and at the end of the month, the department will have to lay off 15 workers due to the state budget impasse. 
 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.