On Thursday, March 3rd, 2011, Westwood Fire Company hosted an Amtrak Train Safety Class for our firefighters, EMS personnel, Fire Police, and our surrounding neighboring stations. The class was conducted by Amtrak Safety Specialist Doug Osterhouse. Approximately 60 members of Westwood and other neighboring agencies attended this important training session.

The class began by giving students a basic understanding of railroad operations including: Train movement and dispatch, railroad personnel, railroad locations, railroad physics, and railroad terminology. After about one hour of lecture, students were treated to a short break.

Upon returning to the class, students also learned safety and operational considerations when operating at a railroad incident, contact information for Amtrak and other area rail companies, pre-planning, and a basic understanding of locomotives and passenger cars.

Later this year when the weather warms up, Westwood Fire Company will be hosting the hands-on portion of the class where students will have the opportunity to see the inside of the trains and practice victim removal evolutions.

We would like to extend a special thank you to Amtrak and their Safety Team for providing this very informative training to our responders!

Additionally, thanks to all of our personnel and neighboring stations in attendance.