First responders, Amtrak to hold mass casualty exercise

AMTRAK WILL HOLD a mass casualty emergency response exercise on Oct. 5 as part of an ongoing effort to train local public-safety personnel in responding to emergencies involving passenger trains. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER
AMTRAK WILL HOLD a mass casualty emergency response exercise on Oct. 5 as part of an ongoing effort to train local public-safety personnel in responding to emergencies involving passenger trains. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/ANDREW HARRER

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island first responders and Amtrak will hold a full-scale emergency response exercise on Saturday, Oct. 5.

The exercise – sponsored by the Providence Emergency Management Agency in partnership with the Greater Providence Metropolitan Medical Response System, Amtrak, the R.I. Emergency Management Agency and Providence and North Kingstown police departments – will begin at 8 a.m. at Wickford Junction Station in North Kingstown and end at about 4 p.m. at the Amtrak Maintenance of Way facility on Royal Little Drive in Providence.

The simulated multiagency exercise is part of an ongoing effort to train local public-safety personnel in responding to emergency situations involving passenger trains, and will include tactical response by law enforcement officials and the triage, transportation and care of passengers by emergency medical services.

“The training exercise is our third collaboration with Amtrak and our Greater Providence Metropolitan Medical Response System partners to ensure we can rapidly and effectively respond to what could be a real-life passenger rail emergency,” said Peter T. Gaynor, director of the Providence Emergency Management Agency.

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The drill will test the ability of approximately 80 local first responders and support personnel, as well as responders of other government agencies, to respond to possible large-scale mass casualty incidents.

“The exercise serves as an example of multi-agency cooperation to prepare for this type of emergency scenario,” said Susan Reinertson, Amtrak’s chief of emergency management and corporate security. “Amtrak has been and remains supportive of any initiative which enhances our passengers’ safety.”

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