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The Washington Times reports that D.C. Fire/EMS and WMATA aren't happy with each other in terms of how the two agencies communicated the details of yesterday's crash:
Fire officials stated bluntly Monday night that Metro's original description of the accident understated its magnitude, and it was only when the first rescuers arrived at the scene that the sort of help needed was finally summoned.The Post's Lena Sun also got this quote: "The spirit of cooperation is not what we would like it to be," Metro spokesperson Candace Smith said."A little after five o'clock we responded to what was believed to be a small incident," D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin said. "The first arriving company recognized the fact that apparently two trains had collided." Fire officials eventually sounded three alarms, summoning hundreds of rescuers and implementing their mass- casualty operations.
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"The spirit of cooperation" = "cover our ass on underreporting the accident." The NY Times yesterday had a quotes from people in the trains saying it was at least 15 minutes before any help arrived; if true, this helps explain that delay. I can't imagine being stuck in a crash this bad and waiting that long for help.
Quite frankly, if I were involved in this incident, either as a Metro official, or injured passenger, I wouldn't trust DC Fire and EMS to provide the appropriate level of pre-hospital care. The DC EMS system is a national disgrace. The majority of the EMTs can not pass a basic a skills test, training is far below national standards, and people have died directly as a result of the incompentence of DC Fire and EMS.
It is truly sad when as a victim, you would be better served by a volunteer ambulance corps from Maryland then the "professionals" in DC. Thankfully, EMS units from Maryland and Virginia did respond to last night's incident. Hopefully, the DC EMTs learned something about how to properly treat patients.
I'm sure there was mutual aid from Montgomery and PG County fire and rescue.
MoCo and PGCo sent several ambulances and rescue vehicles to the scene, I believe they assisted in the care and transport of the 70+ injured passengers. Not sure if they had a hand in the removal and recovery in the trains or not.
Wow. I was wondering when this comment was going to surface. And you. are. a. prick.
The ineptitude/failure/cheaters of the DC EMS is well documented. It also has nothing to do with Sommer's post. It has nothing to do with how the victims were treated, only the lateness in their arrival.
If you were a victim yesterday with gashes and gushing blood from your body and a DC EMT approached you, would you stop him or her in favor of waiting until other non-DC units arrived to treat you?
Give those people a break and don't bring up the blemishes in their performance until we all have solid evidence that their training, or lack thereof, contributed to any of yesterday's fatalities.
If you were a victim yesterday with gashes and gushing blood from your body and a DC EMT approached you, would you stop him or her in favor of waiting until other non-DC units arrived to treat you?
I don't know. Let me ask you this. If you were having a heart attack and a DC EMT told you it was heartburn and to take an antacid, would you? Or would you prefer a competent professional properly diagnose you so that you don't die several hours later?
How about if you were attacked and lying on a street at night? Would you like to be picked up by a DC ambulance that, assuming you are drunk, will take you accross town, passing several closer hospitals, because the driver has to run some errands? Or would you like to be taken to the nearest emergency room?
Watch the videos of the DC EMTs at the College Park training center. They are frightening. Basic protocols are ignored. EMTs can not perform basic procedures. Its all on tape and was all given to DC Fire and EMS command. Yet these imcompenent EMTs were not fired and were not taken off the streets. Some of them, no doubt, responded to last night's incident.
Having even a single EMT or Paramedic who can not pass a basic skills test or who can not perform the basic procedures required of the position is pure negligence. It has killed at least 2 people in the last few years.
While you have a valid point about DC EMS being quite incompetent--I would argue that EMS is not entirely the issue here! The issue is the communication problems; or rather that Metro is more interested in covering it's ass in sugar-coated PR frosting than getting out factual information that can help EMS save lives. If it's found that any EMS mishandling contributed to deaths then by all means that should be dealt with, as should the general problems associated with EMS--but that is a seperate issue and a whole different battle. I have sympathy for EMS because they're in the same situation Metro is--underfunded and neglected by the government it serves. What you didn't mention is how EMS was merged with Fire and suddenly money meant to be split started going to Fire at the expense of EMS; whose people are continually disrespected by the Fire members. If EMS were properly funded, and managed by a respectable agency (or hell, company even) than I think there would be far less issues of grosse incompetence.
Either way, have a little soul and try to refrain from pointing too many fingers--there's enough idiots and lawyers running around doing that already!
If you were a victim yesterday with gashes and gushing blood from your body and a DC EMT approached you, would you stop him or her in favor of waiting until other non-DC units arrived to treat you?
I don't know
Seriously? Spoken like a true nay-sayer of public institutions. I've seen the videos but still have no reason to openly berate and challenge them and their skills after such an unfortunate accident. Again, if there were any misdiagnosis yesterday by DC EMS that led to a fatality, then I will give you your soapbox back.
FIRERUBE is just covering his ass from the flack he got over the Nats Park fireworks display BS
I'm sure EMS and WMATA will have this little tiff patched up in time for the inevitable domestic terrorism attack. But next time, it'll all happen underground and they'll be arguing over who gets stuck burning the corpses off the tunnel walls.
Communication Breakdown, It's always the same!
I'm having a nervous breakdown! Drive me insane!
I am inclined to side with DC EMS on this one. If Metro sent to EMS the same information that was contained in those text service alerts, then the information relayed to DC EMS was crap-tastic.
yes i'm sure the EMS had trouble figuring it out when they were told to respond to a "mechanical failure outside fort totten station"
Maybe Metro just sent an eAlert to the D.C. Fire/EMS as notification of the accident.
I would think that EMS would have received at least one 911 call within a minute of the crash.
Yep. I was at New York Ave and you should have seen how fast the cellphones whipped out once they finally told us we weren't getting home on metro.
I believe half of what WMATA tells us. As for the first responders - God bless 'em.
This story has had no less than seven blog posts about it. We will hammer away at this transit agency pointing fingers while 40,000 per year die on freeways, and we're okay with that.
Speed limits are being raised in communities. People run red lights and drink and drive every single day. People complain that a law to protect children getting off of school buses is being enforced in Pasadena, CA for Christ's sake.
The coverage of this accident is not proportional to how dangerous mass transit really is and I see people on other sites I frequent already using this crash to attack much-needed investment in commuter rail, light rail and high speed rail.
If we are going to cover this accident to the nth degree, then by all means, let's put fatal auto accidents on the front page every single day. There are plenty to choose from and you wouldn't be able to get to them all.
dude. it's just the old "man bites dog" situation. this is newsworthy partly because of the somewhat rareness of the situation. also, don't know if you've heard, but this is the most deadly metro accident ever. so there's that, too. so it's not about body counts really, in my opinion, this event is relevant to people in a lot of other ways. but, yes, you are correct about auto accidents and that whole thing.
No offense, but what "we" exactly are you referring to? Based on your posts, you appear to be in Los Angeles and not the DC area. For those of us who live here (and who are taking the Red Line today, or any other part of Metro), detailed coverage of this story is of local interest.
The lack of a mass transit system in Pasadena (except for a 13.7 mile light rail line to L.A.) may have a lot to do with Spokker's rant about our local coverage.
Seems like he's been ranting since the minute the accident happened - either a rabid rail enthusiast (who can hear no wrong about his precious twains) or a rail employee. Take it to Pasadenaist, bub.
Hey, someone needs to counter balance the rabid car lovers who can hear no wrong about the fabled automobile.
Seems like the target is the media. If that's the case then perhaps they need to hear from you directly.
Unfortunately, the news is mostly based on novelty rather than banality... or maybe that's fortunate. Otherwise every day the front page would look like The Onion's front page:
"Man Gets Up and Goes to Work, For the 3,000th Day."
I don't own a car. Counter that.
I walk and take Metro (Red Line and Metrobus) daily, and I use zipcar on an occasional basis (less than once a month.) So yes, Metrorail and Metrobus safety is a concern of mine, as well as the safety and the wellbeing of my friends and neighbors here.
I never said you did.
I happen to ride this particular pwecious twain line every day to and from work. I live in Columbia Heights and work in Silver Spring. I transfer at Fort Totten. Today I had to take the S2 in....Spoker isn't being rabid, rather, being rational. It was a HORRIBLE thing to happen, and my heart goes out to all of the injured and victims. It is something that noone should have to go through ever, but it is sensational because it happens so seldom. It is the most tragic accident in Metro history. Thats since 1976. Since 1976 there has never been this many people killed on a Metro Train. Thats a pretty long stretch and it hasn't broken into the double digits. I have worse odds walking home in my neighborhood at night.
Once again, I don't want to downplay the tragedy of the individuals involved. Every one of the people on that train has their own experience and their own very personal and very real trauma, but if we are looking at statistics, I will be riding the metro again the day that it opens up a clear, unobstructed track for me to get to work.
On a side note, From accounts that I have heard from coworkers that were on adjacent trains, the evacuation and redirection of passengers was orderly and calm and handled professionally and sensitively.
Yes, but Spokker's original posts were complaining about the number of articles on DCist concerning the accident and that it was overreaction. I agree with you that statistically Metro is safer than driving (again, I am a car-free person), but I also agree with you that this is the worst accident in Metro's history, and as such it is going to get a lot of coverage here. Not to mention the major disruption this is causing for many people's commutes. California's Metrolink system handles less than 50,000 people a day (vs. the 700,000 of Metro), so maybe he doesn't realize the extent that this affects our area.
Seriously?
How long before we discover that the driver was texting right before the crash.
How long before we discover that the driver was texting right before the crash.