Mock accident trains area emergency crews Would-be catastrophe

involves bus, train

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD -- High school students and a variety of fire, rescue, health care and law enforcement agencies attended a mock bus-train accident at the south end of Burns Avenue Monday evening.

Firefighters, police and ambulance crews, the Springfield Medical Center/Hospital-Mayo Health System, Brown County Sheriff's Department, Sleepy Eye Ambulance Service, North Ambulance of Redwood Falls and Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern (DM&E) Railroad participated in the mock accident. Such emergency training is staged annually in the community.

Lamberton and Morgan ambulances were also notified. In the event of an actual large accident, mutual aid would also come from Comfrey, Mountain Lake and surrounding towns.

Plans originally called for North Ambulance to send a helicopter ambulance to the mock crash. That idea fell through due to air restrictions after last Tuesday's terrorist strikes on the East Coast.

Springfield Ambulance Director Doug Cook said the drill attempts to incorporate the major industries and other entities in town.

"I incorporated the school because we haven't done so for a while," Cook said. "I thought of the train because we have seven rail crossings in town plus rural areas where school buses cross."

Cook said railroad crossing gates exist only at the Cass Avenue crossing. Lights are on the County Road 4 crossing. One crossing, on the east end of Sanborn Street was recently closed. The other crossings are open.

There has been talk in town of closing other rail crossings on less-traveled roads in town.

Just prior to the mock crash, an old school bus was pushed onto the DM&E railroad tracks by heavy equipment. A railroad tanker car was pushed near the bus by a locomotive.

Twenty students with various mock injuries climbed into the bus from its rear door. The front door of the bus was already damaged to the point where it was not usable.

Mike Ball, DM&E Emergency Response Specialist, told students not to "play dead and completely collapse," making themselves hard to move when fire fighters rescued them from the bus.

He also told them that the code words "May Day, May Day, May Day" should be said if they became uncomfortable.

The mock crash stopwatch began at 5:32 p.m. when Ball called the Brown County Sheriff's Department via 911.

Students sang "Amazing Grace" and other church hymns until the firefighters began rescuing them from the bus.

Springfield Police were the first to arrive on scene at 5:47 p.m. Firefighters reached the scene at 5:50 p.m. and began securing the bus with wooden blocks and hooking up several fire hoses.

Firefighters cut their way into the bus using a K-12 Carborundum chop saw that send sparks flying.

"They're doing quite well, but it's a tough job," Ball said as firefighters cut through the side of the bus with their saw.

Victims were gradually removed from the bus.

Cook was pleased with how the drill went. It will be reviewed at tonight's Springfield City Council meeting.

"I thought it went really well," Cook said. "We had excellent coordination between or fire, police, ambulance and hospital. Overall it was great."

Springfield Police Chief Jeff Cummins said the mock drill wasn't the worst scenario he could imagine. A plane crash could be more difficult to manage because wreckage and bodies could be strewn over a large area, making them difficult to locate.

Bob Smith, DM&E Safety Manager, said he and Ball have helped orchestrate several mock accidents in Minnesota. A recent drill in Waseca included a hazardous material release, emergency response units and state inspectors involved.

"This is great training for communities in case of a bad accident. Everybody gets some training," Smith said.