A train ride home from Philadelphia to Bucks County ended with a crash caused by criminal activity to the rail line on Saturday, at least that was the theme of a regional emergency training exercise.
About three dozen volunteer “victims” joined with fire and emergency medical responders from around Lower Bucks County and officials from SEPTA on the railroad siding off Wheeler Way in Middletown for the drill. At St. Mary Medical Center, staff and doctors took in victims from the drill after a mock triage at the scene.
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SEPTA spokesperson Heather Redfern said the drill that simulated a full-scale disaster on the Regional Rail line takes place annually in the transit system’s coverage area.
Firefighters and medics trekked through brush to make their way to the train cars being used. They removed victims from the crashed car before evaluating them and shipping them off to the hospital.
Penndel-Middletown Emergency Squad Chief Andrew Foley said the crash was framed at Level 2 Mass Casualty Incident, leading to a dispatch of at least 15 ambulances from around the area, including the Bensalem, Tri-Hampton, and Newtown ambulance squads.
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As the initial responding firefighters went to work, medics established their triage area and began planning how to transport the roughly 30 victim for care. Crews put those with the most life-threatening injuries into ambulances and loaded the less-seriously hurt into ambulances and a bus for transport to the hospital.
Emergency windows were pushed out of the train cars and emergency responders used ladders, ropes, and a stokes basket to safely remove the mock injured, Redfern said.
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The drill involved numerous challenges, including dealing with a patient who used a service dog, Foley said.
Redfern explained that the drill included downed overhead catenary wires that caused an additional challenge for firefighters.
“This shows [emergency responders] what would happen and they can get used to the equipment,” she said.
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A second drill involving Middletown and SEPTA police officers also was underway off Wheeler Way on Saturday morning. However, officials declined to comment on the specifics of that training scenario.
Jim McGuire, who leads the Middletown Department of Fire and Emergency Management, said the drill took about six months to plan and included 140 emergency responders.
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A post-event debriefing took place and officials talked about their performance. McGuire said officials drew some ideas for improvement for the township’s emergency management plan.
“We found some smaller issues and will revise them,” he said. “Quiet honestly, the plan worked as intended.”
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The drills were overseen by SEPTA officials and inspectors from the Federal Railroad Administration.
To deal with the hot weather, officials brought a pallet of water and three quarters of the bottles were used by the end of the exercise.
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The trains were pulled from the nearby West Trenton Line onto the siding by SEPTA locomotives.
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