Illinois Statutes Chapter 5. General Provisions § 235/5. Definitions

(a) “Emergency responder” includes emergency medical services personnel and firefighters, including firefighters trained in the areas of hazardous materials, specialized rescue, extrication, water rescue, and other specialized areas.

(b) “Mutual aid emergency” or “emergency” means an occurrence or condition resulting in a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or the environment, where the governmental entity having jurisdiction over the situation determines (i) that the situation exceeds its ability to render appropriate aid and (ii) that it is in the public's best interest to request mutual aid from an out-of-state entity with whom the governmental entity has a written mutual aid agreement. “Mutual aid emergency” or “emergency” does not include a situation that initially rises to the level of disaster or emergency requiring a state or local declaration of a state of emergency, unless that declaration occurs after the initial request for mutual aid has been made.

(c) “Training exercises” means necessary advance actions taken by emergency responders pursuant to a mutual aid agreement in order to prepare to more adequately address a potential mutual aid emergency.