First responders train for rail emergencies
Troy Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dustin “Dusty” Welch holds the end of a measuring tape as Don Matlock with Operation Lifesaver demonstrates the distance a vehicle — whether a car or a train — travels in one second at 60 mph, during training Saturday, Aug. 11. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Troy first responders on Saturday, Aug. 11, learned more about how to respond to and even prevent train-related emergencies.
Don Matlock from Operation Lifesaver Montana gave a class to Troy Volunteer Fire Department and Troy Volunteer Ambulance members that began with a quiz to show first responders how little they might know about the various trains that pass through Lincoln County daily.
He covered not only identifying rail cars — from passenger to pressurized and hazardous material-carrying cars — but some of the inner workings of train service that will help first responders handle a rail emergency quickly and safely.
Though there may be other agencies and special units called in for something such as a train versus car collision or a derailment, the volunteer departments and local law enforcement are the ones who will be there when seconds matter, Matlock said.
“They’re the ones that have to secure the scene, do the preliminary,” he said. “You can’t just sit there twiddling your thumbs, waiting for the train people to show up, because they may be hours away.”
Even knowing where to place flaggers for approaching trains when securing an emergency scene is crucial, he said.
He cited a case where a police officer stopped a mile from a scene rather than the standard two miles. Even though the train crew saw his flashing lights before they reached him, with the time it took to stop the train, it still came within feet of a car stuck on the tracks with a trapped driver before stopping.
It can take a train a mile or more to stop, Matlock said.
Matlock also covered precautions that first responders, and anyone else, should take when they are around trains or tracks.
For example, with a single light on the front of trains, the human eye has difficulty perceiving actual speed, and a train that appears far away can be on top of someone before they know it.
Matlock said he holds free, age-appropriate classes for children and adults to emphasize how easily someone can misjudge the dangers surrounding trains.
Matlock said that teaching the class is rewarding from the times he has opened a newspaper and seen that a department he helped train was more prepared when they had to deal with a real-life incident.
He also remembers the young girl who ran up to him in a grocery store, hugged his leg and exclaimed, “Mommy, mommy! It’s the train man!”
When people start learning to respect trains that young, he said, they carry it with them through their lives.
To learn more about Operation Lifesaver or inquire about free safety classes by their volunteers, visit MTOLI.org, email Matlock at matlock@csinet.net or call 406-730-2756.