BLOOMINGTON - Two McLean County emergency response officials - who are married to each other - are still planning to vacation in Mexico, even though it's the epicenter of the international swine flu outbreak.

Mike Kimmerling, deputy chief of the Bloomington Fire Department, and his wife, McLean County Coroner Beth Kimmerling, were monitoring on Monday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations regarding travel to Mexico. As of late Monday, the Kimmerlings were still planning to leave Wednesday morning for Huatulco, Mexico.

Mike Kimmerling said they wouldn't go if the U.S. government imposed travel restrictions. Absent that, he and Beth were looking forward to a quiet vacation.

"Whenever you travel anywhere, you take a risk," he said. "I'm not going to sit home and close my doors because of a possible risk. I'm not going to miss out on things in life."

Kimmerling said people at highest risk of the swine flu are the elderly, children and people with compromised immune systems. "Beth and I don't fall into any of those categories."

But they were taking precautions. The Kimmerlings got a prescription of Tamiflu to take in case they get sick; were taking an alcohol-based hand sanitizer; and were planning to limit contact with people as much as possible.