Coast Starlight Stopped in MPK
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PetalumaLoco
Conductor
PetalumaLoco
Conductor
Graphic description in the comments section of that linked story.
The poster seemed to think the "victim" was a homeless man. (If a person commits suicide, I find it difficult to think of him or her as a victim, thus the quotes.)
Yeah, that's what they were saying down there. There was a lady down there talking to police that apparently gave him some clothes and a few other things earlier today.
Oh, and the CS departed MPK about 15-20 min ago.
Oh, and the CS departed MPK about 15-20 min ago.
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Read the gory details and added a comment of my own.
Green Maned Lion
Engineer
The victim is the engineer and Conductor on the Coast Starlight, not the dead bum who deserves what he got.
Shawn
Service Attendant
First of all "the conductor" realized he couldn't stop. Come on. All kids want to be an "engineer" and they still can't seem to ever get this fact right.
Also, all the "details" have been deleted from the story comments...
Also, all the "details" have been deleted from the story comments...
Yes, I've noticed that too. The "engineer" or "train operator" (I simply can't use the British term "driver" for something that doesn't have a steering wheel) is the one responsible for the safe operation of the train, and the one who gets to watch people die either through either careless, stupidity, or suicide—and then gets blamed for something that is all too often not his (or her) fault.
Actually it is the conductor who is charged with the safe operation of the train, even though the engineer does play a key role in that process.
And while you are correct for a passenger train about the engineer being the one who gets to watch, in the case of a freight train, usually both the engineer and the conductor get to watch.
Finally, without fail unless the conductor was injured in the accident, it is the conductor who is the first on the ground in the aftermath and therefore gets the closest views of the remains.
wayman
Engineer
What type of training do conductors receive for these situations? EMTs have to deal with both administering first aid (the obvious part of their job) and maintaining calm and control while encountering horrific and gruesome sites (the part which the media carefully never describes). I know there are counseling programs (and job leave is usual) for crew who have dealt with tragedies like this. But how much preparation are train crews given during job training for the psychological preparedness they need in these situations? There's just no amount of working with CPR dummies, looking at films, or going through simulation exercises that even comes close to reality here....
While I'll certainly defer to someone more knowledgeable, I don't believe that they are given any training on this. AFAIK, they don't even get first aid training. I believe that anything they get, would be after the fact, and that's largely free counseling.
BlueJeanGirl
Service Attendant
Thank you, Whooz, for your timely and sensitive additions to the comments on the story.
I was called originally to dogcatch 11 last night, but couldn't make it to the depot soon enough (I'm 50 miles away) so I ended up dogcatching 796.
Wayman, we get very little formal training in what to do when confronted with this situation. We are responsible for contacting operations and the dispatchers with as much information as we can acquire, and then fielding a number of phone calls as managers want more details and information. This is in addition to getting down on the ground and seeing if there is any aid to be rendered to the person/persons involved.
We are offered several days off with pay, and counseling and other assistance as needed, the entire operating crew.
Travel light!
~BJG
I was called originally to dogcatch 11 last night, but couldn't make it to the depot soon enough (I'm 50 miles away) so I ended up dogcatching 796.
Wayman, we get very little formal training in what to do when confronted with this situation. We are responsible for contacting operations and the dispatchers with as much information as we can acquire, and then fielding a number of phone calls as managers want more details and information. This is in addition to getting down on the ground and seeing if there is any aid to be rendered to the person/persons involved.
We are offered several days off with pay, and counseling and other assistance as needed, the entire operating crew.
Travel light!
~BJG
ThayerATM
OBS Chief
While we were standing on the platform in Winter Park on our Zephyr trip a couple of weeks ago, we were watching a "medical emergency" unfold about 35 yards down the platform. During the drama my wife asked our car attendant if anyone in the crew was certified in CPR. He said: "Oh yeah. We're all certified in CPR." If things run with Amtrak like they do with local CPR classes, that means that they have also passed at least a basic first aid course.
This certainly doesn't qualify anyone to be an EMT, but at least the car attendants have received some training.
Oh, and it turned out that the pax with the "medical" problem had over-medicated himself with his *private stock* "medicine," and scraped up his face after stumbling and falling while stepping off the train. He left in the ambulance, and the train continued on toward Chicago without him.
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