(The Chillicothe Gazette published the following story by Jim Siegel on its website on August 14.)
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A smashed semi truck sat strewn across the railroad tracks with two bloodied bodies hanging out of what used to be the side windows. An injured train engineer for Norfolk Southern, trapped in his cabin, called out for help.
Emergency crews, including the Columbus Heavy Rescue Squad, rushed to the scene, and a helicopter soon prepared to touch down for an emergency airlift.
An audience of about 200 people looked on from the stands and soaked up the afternoon sun.
Ohio Operation Lifesaver, a public service education program dedicated to reducing fatalities and injuries at rail grade crossings, put on the mock truck-train crash Wednesday to help teach emergency personnel from around central Ohio about the dangers of such an incident.
“We are demonstrating the graphic reality of what could be, but never should be,” Shel Senek told the audience prior to the event. “When you test a train, the train will always win.”
Senek, the state coordinator for Ohio Operation Lifesaver, said the program would help rescue workers gain knowledge and skill in dealing with such accidents. Ohio ranks sixth in the nation in vehicle-train crashes.
Wednesday’s scenario, rescue crews extracted a man from the truck and helped the engineer, who was injured and stuck in the cabin of the train. A third man, the truck driver, was dead on the scene. Also, the train was carrying hazardous materials.
Senek said the scene showed what emergency personnel must do to deal with multiple problems.
“The problems are more compounded than in a typical car crash,” he said, noting the 440 volts going through the train, the potential of hazardous cargo, and the chance of derailment.
Richard “Sparky” Dodds, co-chairman of the Marion County Railroad Crossing Operation Lifesaver Task Force, said he will take a film of the mock crash to show to students across the county.
“As a country, we’re impatient and in a big hurry when we come to a railroad crossing,” he said. “Don’t cross a train. You are going to lose.”
Columbus Police Lt. Karl Barth, who helped organize his department’s role in the mock crash, said the effort was worth it because few officers have experience dealing with train crashes.
Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper George King did scene surveying in the mock accident.
“That train hitting a car is like a car hitting an empty pop can,” he said.
After the mock crash, those in attendance spent time getting hands-on instruction.