Timely training: Railroad, Mat-Su EMS partner for mock rescue drills

WASILLA — Seeing a southbound Alaska Railroad train meandering along the rural tracks of the Mat-Su is nothing unusual, especially with tourist season fast approaching. But seeing one that has hit another train, derailed or spilling hazardous materials is not.

To help prepare for such an emergency, both the railroad and borough officials partnered for a two-day training session with real-life scenarios. The first day was a train-on-train collision and the second involved a hazardous spill. Casey Cook, Mat-Su emergency manager said the event is a good way for both parties involved to benefit from one another.

Mat-Su Emergency Services personnel involved with the mock drill included Houston and West Lakes fire department, City of Houston, Mat-Su EMS, Mat-Su emergency management, Mat-Su public information officers, Alaska Red Cross, Mat-Su Haz-Mat team and the Salvation Army. They worked jointly with railroad representatives. Cook said all total, Friday's event saw about 125 on-scene while Saturday's exercise included about 40.

On Friday, a call was issued to all involved groups to assemble near Millers Reach Road just south of Houston where a northbound passenger train collided with a northbound freight train just outside of Houston. The drill included mass injuries and casualties with "victims" playing the part of injured. All involved treated the event as real assessing, performing triage and extricating the injured. Saturday saw the haz-mat team ramp into full gear to contain a "spill" of a hazardous substance.

Cook said from the moment the first 911 call was issued until personnel are on-scene and that scene secured and safe, everything is timed and critiqued. Not only time, but how personnel respond. Inside a railroad car on Friday afternoon, firefighters and EMS personnel evaluated victims, performed necessary first aid, place them on backboards and extricated them out of car through a railcar window. From there, they were taken to staging location and then those needing hospitalization would have been evacuated accordingly. During both days, firefighters remained at the ready to deal with anything calling for action.

"(The borough) plans one of these about every three years," Cook said. "(Alaska Railroad) has to have one every year. Over the course of six months, we've been planning this one. It really helps us plan for the real thing."

While a large contingent of borough emergency services personnel were involved with the mock disaster training, there was no shortage of coverage or protection of Matsu people and property. All areas of the borough had adequate staff to handle the normal "real-world" daily needs as "disaster" struck just north of Big Lake.

Cook said with the exception of some communication and radio frequency capability issues, both days went fairly smooth. All involved were scheduled to review the entire event yesterday to determine and correct any perceived problems.

"We enjoy working with Alaska Railroad. It gives us a chance to practice things on a large scale...high risk but low frequency events," Cook said. "If the real thing happens, we should be ready."