The Kentucky-based Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) on Jan. 9 will conduct a Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS)-certified course, AWR 147 Rail Car Incident Response, in Coweta County. The course is designed to assist the Coweta County Fire Dept. in enhancing its response to a rail car incidents involving hazardous materials.
RDPC Communications Specialist Jarrod Withers said the eight-hour, instructor-led course will introduce the rural responder community to basic rail car design and construction features as well as damage assessment strategies to help interpret damage to the rail cars in a hazmat incident.
“Upon completion of the course, participants will be better prepared to respond to a freight car incident without endangering the health and safety of the responders and the environment,” Withers said.
In 2008, the Federal Railway Administration (FRA) reported, there were more than 7,000 rail car accidents and incidents, 20 of which involved hazardous materials—requiring the evacuation of over 5,000 people. In the last five years, there have been 166 incidents involving hazardous materials, most of which occurred in rural America, according to the FRA.
The course was developed by the Ohio-based University of Findlay, an academic partner of the RDPC, to increase the participants’ knowledge and understanding of safety and hazardous conditions that may exist at the scene, and allow them to become more familiar with safe practices adopted by the railroad industry.
RDPC is a DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) partnership of academic institutions with a vision of creating an environment wherein rural communities across America will have the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to enhance the safety, security and quality of life for their citizens.
Current members of the Consortium include East Tennessee State University, Eastern Kentucky University, The University of Findlay, Iowa Central Community College, NorthWest Arkansas Community College, and North Carolina Central University. Each of these institutions possesses extensive and unique capabilities relating to rural emergency preparedness training, Withers said.
