Some 60 first responders and UD officials gather at the Bob Carpenter Center for a table top emergency response exercise focusing on what would happen if a train derailed at the Amtrak rail lines just north of the University's Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus.

Prepare for emergency

First responders, UD officials participate in crisis response simulation

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1:21 p.m., Sept. 2, 2015--On May 12, Amtrak Northeast Regional Train No. 188 was en route to New York City when it derailed in Philadelphia at 9:21 p.m. That tragedy, which killed eight commuters, was very much on the minds of 60 first responders and University of Delaware officials who met on the Newark campus last month to conduct a table top emergency response exercise. 

The May accident, which occurred about 50 miles north of UD's campus, affected the entire Northeast corridor. 

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In an effort to apply lessons learned from that incident, officials from federal, state, county and local agencies joined a host of University employees on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the Bob Carpenter Center for an exercise simulation of a similar accident at the Amtrak rail lines just north of the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus on North College Avenue. 

The exercise was hosted by University Campus and Public Safety in partnership with the city of Newark, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, New Castle County and Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder Volunteer Fire Company. 

“We had excellent ideas and leadership among our exercise planning team which contributed to the quality of the exercise,” said Mark Seifert, UD’s emergency management coordinator. “The realism was heightened by the participation of a cross-section of University administrators, the National Transportation Safety Board, Amtrak, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and other key emergency management officials. 

"We were very fortunate to have Neil Trugman, Amtrak Police deputy chief of special operations, who was at the Philadelphia crash from the outset to its conclusion, at our exercise," Seifert said. "I think Chief Trugman’s insights were extremely helpful to our team in planning how we might respond to a similar crash.”

Campus and Public Safety routinely hosts a series of table top exercises to educate and prepare University employees on what their role might be in working with first responders should an emergency occur on or near the campus. 

In last month's table top scenario, there were eight fatalities reported, hundreds of injuries and a crash scene that affected the neighborhoods on the north side of the Amtrak rail lines. Topics discussed at the exercise included incident command; triage of patients; the effective use of social media; coordination with the media; resource management; victim services considerations; continuity of business operations; and the testing of existing operational plans. 

UD Police Chief Patrick Ogden said, “Collaboration is the key to success in any critical incident. We are more prepared today than we were yesterday and that was the goal in hosting this exercise. Key partners from across the region discussed capabilities and identified areas for improvement, making us all more prepared to respond in a mass casualty event. 

"We are fortunate to have so many professionals serving our campus from the city of Newark, New Castle County and the state of Delaware," Ogden said. "We will continue to work with these partners and others from the Delaware Emergency Management Agency, Amtrak, the National Transportation Safety Board and key University employees in refining our plans and applying national best practices so we can refine our response.” 

Newark Police Chief Paul Tiernan said, "We are pleased with the success of the exercise. It is scenarios like these that help us all better understand and evaluate our capabilities and resources for responding to a major incident. Information learned and shared will better guide us in our response to any event that affects our community.”

The exercise was professionally facilitated by the Olson Group of Alexandria, Virginia, and paid for by a grant provided by the Delaware Emergency Management Agency.    

Members of the University community are reminded that in an emergency situation, the UD Alert system will be used to communicate important information. To ensure that your contact information is correct, visit the UD Alert website and follow the instructions there to update your contact information.  

Photo by Mark Seifert

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