ILEAS Respirator Program
AVON Respirators
Upon its creation, one of ILEAS's first missions was to participate with the Illinois Terrorism Task Force in the distribution of PPE to every law enforcement officer in Illinois. Since 2003, ILEAS has distributed nearly 24,000 AVON masks, canisters, and carriers to nearly 1,000 agencies. In addition, ILEAS has stockpiled 16,000 spare NBC canisters in caches around the State - available to any department that needs it during emergencies. ILEAS originally started this program with these goals:
  • Provide a mask to every sworn police officer in the State of Illinois as a protective escape device
  • Provide for standardization of equipment, training and policies with regard to respirator use so that resources could be shared across the State with a minimum of effort
  • Provide for free "train-the-trainer" session for all police departments in the State for respirator use

ILEAS continues to fund this program and distributes AVON's free of charge to any member agency as needed and upon request. To place an order for additional respirators complete this online form and electronically submit it. It will be sent to Jennifer Ford at the ILEAS Administrative Office for review. Once she approves the request, an order will be placed with Safety Systems and they will ship the equipment directly to you.

Here are some issues to be aware of when ordering:

  • ILEAS is filling only requests for respirator PACKAGES - mask, carrier, canister, monocle (if necessary). ILEAS is NOT supplying canisters separately. Canisters are considered consumables that should be purchased at the agency's expense. ILEAS can fill monocle orders separately, but ILEAS does not pay for the lens inserts.
  • ILEAS originally issued AVON FM-12 masks. The new masks are AVON FM-12CBRN. They are NIOSH CBRN compliant. As such, we now need to know if you need right or left-handed masks (depending on how the officers' handedness re: shoulder weapons).
  • In order to expedite your order, please complete the entire order form before submitting. When you select the submit button, the program will ask which email system you want to use to submit the order. Follow the on screen instructions to electronically submit it. Please print out a copy for yourself. If you do not hear from ILEAS in a week, please contact Jennifer Ford to confirm she received your order. If you have trouble with the online email submission, print out the form and fax it to ILEAS at 217-328-3845.
N95 Respirators
Recently, in preparation for a potential pandemic flu or other biological emergency, ILEAS has purchased 138,000 N95 respirators. This supply is available to any law enforcement agency in Illinois as a contingency or "backstop" supply if a regional outbreak of some kind occurs and local agencies use up their local supplies. These are the 3M model 8000 N95 mask. For more on that specific mask, click here. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has recommended the N95 for public safety first responder use. For more details on the IDPH planning documents and recommendations, please sign onto the secured side of this site with your password and review the "Important Messages" section of your home page. You will find seveal IDPH planning documents there that will guide you in your planning process.
 
Labor Issues
ILEAS has worked with the Department of Labor, the Illinois Attorney General, and the Illinois Terrorism Task Force to clearly define labor issues with regard to respirator use - both the AVON and N95's. See the Labor Issues link to the left for details regarding respirator use for law enforcement in Illinois.
 
Required Medical Respirator Screening
First, please review the labor issues page described above to determine whether or not your employees need to participate in medical screening. If you, as the chief law enforcement officer for your jurisdiction, have determined that your staff needs to complete respirator medical screening, ILEAS has negotiated with 3M an inexpensive service to perform the reviews. The 3M Online Respirator Exam Program is available through the ILEAS secured website for only $25 per person (at your agency's expense). For more specifics on this, see the labor page or sign on with your password and check out the program itself.
 

Last Updated July 5, 2007