(CBC News-Saskatchewan posted the following article on its website on May 22.)
REGINA — Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) staged a mock train crash behind Casino Regina on Tuesday. The staged derailment was aimed at training emergency medical services, the fire department and waste disposal crews who took part in the exercise.
People in blue, plastic containment suits circle two rail cars. They’re equipped with oxygen tanks and long probes to detect the presence of chemicals. They look prepared for the worst in disasters, but they’re just honing their skills in case of a real accident.
CPR’s Rick Poznikoff said that all the right measures were taken to make the procedures true to life.
The accident was even broadcast over scanners. The communication was so realistic, some media showed up thinking there really was a train crash. Poznikoff gives the media the fake low-down.
“We had a collision of two cars. Two of our crew members were soiled by some pesticide or some stuff that’s come out of the container car and the car it ran into is a dangerous propane car which created a leak,” he says.
None of this happened, but Poznikoff says having realistic details means everybody gets better experience in case something like this does happen.
“We actually had somebody pour stuff over the yardman’s head in order to try to make it as real as it could be,” says Posnikoff.
Poznikoff says, so far, the event has gone smoothly, but performance will be thoroughly evaluated after it’s all over.