Field Trip to WMATA Emergency Management Training Facility

Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

In light of the recent newsworthy events and the controversy surrounding the fatal Metrorail crash earlier this year, the Chesapeake Chapter planned our first event of the 2009/2010 year at the WMATA Emergency Management Training Facility.  The event was a HUGE success!  More than 40 chapter members came representing Richmond, VA to Sparks, PA.

The event was split between lecture and simulation.  Our lecturer for the day was Mr. Tom Jones, Life Safety Officer and Emergency Manager for WMATA, who explained to us the difficulty of protecting the Washington area's primary transportation system.  We learned how elevators are used as the primary egress from one of the systems deapest stations and how occupants are protected from fires within stations as well as within tunnels.

The simulation was conducted in "The Rollover Rig," a full size train car that has been placed on rotating rings such that it can be turned up to 170 degrees.  Chapter members were able to walk through the rig at different angles to simulate the difficulty of evacuating from a train car that has been overturned.  Similarly, event attendees could predict the difficulty to emergency service personnel that rescue from an overturned train car poses.

Please view the pictures below!

View the flyer that was mailed out for this event.