Media Advisory - Emergency responders to plea for protection on the highways
October 26, 2007
Emergency responders face danger every day, much of it from traffic passing by the scene of a crash or other incident. As part of a statewide Traffic Incident Management conference being held in Appleton, emergency responders from throughout the area will participate in a news conference at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium Tuesday morning to raise awareness of those dangers. The news conference will include a display of the variety of equipment that emergency responders have in their arsenal when responding to incidents on highways. In addition to the ThedaStar helicopter, law enforcement, fire/EMS, highway maintenance, and towing & recovery vehicles will be present at the stadium.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 8:30 a.m.WHERE: Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, 2400 N. Casaloma Drive, Appleton
Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium can be accessed from both Wisconsin Avenue and WIS 15/US 41 interchanges.
To reach the stadium from WIS 15, exit off of Hwy. 41 and head west to Casaloma Drive. Turn left on Casaloma Drive and the stadium will be a 1/4 mile on the left.
To reach the stadium from Wisconsin Avenue (WIS 96), exit off of US 41 and head west on Hwy GV toward Casaloma Drive. Turn right on Casaloma Drive and the stadium will be a 1/2 mile on the right.
Featured speakers at the news conference will include Wisconsin State Patrol Superintendent David Collins; Northeast Technical College Associate Dean of Public Safety Ed Janke, who is also an assistant chief with the Howard Fire Department and a former Brown County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy; and, Kevin Chesnik, a division administrator from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The news conference will precede the two-day 2007 Statewide Traffic Incident Management Conference being held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel in Madison. The conference will cover a wide range of topics, including information on the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management, Emergency Traffic Control and Scene Management, and Emergency Preparedness Best Practices. Emergency Medical Services, fire, law enforcement, public safety communications, towing and recover, emergency management, and transportation representatives from across the state are expected to attend. These events in Wisconsin will precede a national launch and press event for the National Unified Goal for Traffic Incident Management to be held November 20 in Maryland.
The event is in response to data that shows hundreds of law enforcement, EMS, towing and recovery, and other roadside workers are killed every year nationally. It’s an effort to educate motorists of the proper procedures to follow when approaching a roadway incident and remind emergency responders of the dangers of working on highways and ways to protect themselves.
Note: The first public safety and responder vehicles will start gathering at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium starting about 8 a.m. with ThedaStar Air medical helicopter scheduled to arrive at 8:10 a.m. The press conference will begin at 8:30.
For more information, contact:
Lt. Brian Rahn
(920) 960-5303,
brian.rahn@dot.state.wi.us
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