The black and blue will be helping the cardinal and black this fall.

NIU and the city of DeKalb are formalizing an agreement that would call for DeKalb’s Emergency Services to provide emergency medical services for football games.

“Every year we contract with the city to provide NIU with ambulance service for football games held on campus,” said NIU Legal Counsel George Shur.

Last week the DeKalb City Council approved a resolution which authorizes DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow to execute an agreement with the Board of Regents for the emergency services.

The agreement then was forwarded to NIU officials for formal approval, said DeKalb Acting City Manager Dean Kruithof.

“We have the agreement in our hands and are looking it over,” Shur said. “There should not be any problems with its approval.”

Specifically, the agreement calls for DeKalb to provide a mobile intensive care unit, staffed with two paramedics and a backup unit also staffed with two emergency medical technicians, said Joseph Jones, assistant chief of Emergency Medical Services.

If approved, the contract calls for NIU to pay $600 per home game for the five home games scheduled for this fall, he said.

The dates for the NIU home football schedule include Sept. 12, Oct. 3, Oct. 10, Oct. 24 and Nov. 21, Jones said.

DeKalb City Attorney Ronald Matekaitis said the city is waiting for the agreement to be signed and until then, no ambulatory services will be provided.

“This is an agreement that makes total sense—God forbid any accident should occur at one of the football games,” Shur said. “It is something we have been doing at NIU for many years and will do so for many years to come.”