2-Train Crash Gives Mutual Aid Plan Initial Test With Accent on EMS Units
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Fire Prevention and Communications Officer Harvey, Ill., Fire Department
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Although designed for fires, a mutual aid plan devised by a group of fire departments in Illinois got its initial use when two trains crashed head-on in Harvey.
There were two deaths and 48 injuries in the collision, and the rescue problem made it necessary to modify the mutual aid response by calling for more rescue trucks and ambulances and fewer pieces of fire apparatus. At the time of the crash, a mutual aid response schedule for disasters and major medical aid was still in the planning stage.
A northbound Amtrak passenger train collided with an Illinois Central Gulf freight train on the ICG right-of-way in Harvey, 20 miles south of Chicago, about 9 p.m. last Oct. 12. This was to set in motion a test of the newly instituted Third District Fire Chiefs Association Mutual Aid Plan.
The Harvey Fire Department, which protects a population of 35,000, consists of 50 paid fire fighters and staff plus 25 paid-on-call fire fighters operating out of four stations. Harvey is a member of the Third District Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, which was developed and first instituted Aug. 1, 1979. The box alarm system is comprised of 20 departments with 37 stations covering 110 square miles and serving a population of 275,000.
Passerby tells of crash
At 9:05 p.m., a walk-in report of the train wreck at 155th and Park was received at the Harvey headquarters station, Station 1, less than one block from the collision. Normal dispatching procedures dispatched Harvey Engines 7, 3 and 4, Harvey Truck 2 and Harvey Paramedic Rescue 8.
The Illinois Central Gulf right-of-way runs through the Chicago suburbs on an embankment about 20 feet above street level. Engine 7, Truck 2, and Rescue 8, coming out of Station 1, arrived on the scene less than one minute after dispatch.
Captain Paul Katity, shift commander, acting deputy chief and company officer on Engine 7, climbed the embankment and found the lead engine on the ICG freight severed off at the sill plate. The Amtrak engine was on its side along with the first Amtrak car. Immediate approach to the wreckage was not made as the collision had sheared off an overhead commuter electric power line support. This had put energized high voltage lines on and around the wreckage. Notification was made to the ICG to cut off power.
Aid requested
At 9:12 p.m., Katity requested Harvey Box 2 from Dolton Mutual Aid Dispatch. The request asked for the tot he-scene companies to provide medical assistance and rescue equipment instead of the normal engines and trucks. This request brought Harvey Engine 8; Truck 2, an elevating platform; Squad 2, a light plant; Rescue 1, a paramedic ambulance; and Rescue 9, an EMT unit. From the box, South Holland Squad 69 and Hazel Crest Engine 24.
Responding on the box to cover Harvey stations were East Hazel Crest Engine 167 to Station 1, Riverdale Engine 82 to Station 2, and Markham Engine 57 to Station 3.
In addition to these units, the following units responded to the special request either with their normal response to the box or ahead of their assignment: Dolton Rescue 46 and Squad 46, Hazel Crest Rescue 26, Markham Rescue 51 and Calumet City Squad 310. Also, the following paramedic ambulances, which are not on the box system responded: Dixmoor Rescue 5, which stood by at Station 1, Daley’s Ambulance Service with two units, and South Holland Police Department with two units. Ten additional Harvey paramedics also responded directly to the scene.
Meanwhile, it was decided that the east side of the right-of-way along Commercial Ave. provided the best access to the wreck. Harvey’s elevating platform was set up at 156th and Commercial to remove the injured from the embankment. A command post was also set up on Commercial along with a triage post. Companies were also set up and operations directed from the west side under the direction of Lieutenant James Eaves.
From both the east and west sides, 1 1/2-inch lines were laid and as a precaution against the possibility of fire involving the estimated 1500 gallons of diesel fuel dumped from the engines.
The injured were stabilized on the scene and transported to hospitals assigned by the medical coordinator at Ingalls Memorial Hospital, the South Cook County emergency medical system resource hospital, in accordance with its emergency disaster plan.
48 victims treated
Altogether, there were 48 victims treated and transported from the scene. Eleven were admitted to Ingalls Memorial Hospital, three in good condition, seven in fair condition and one in critical condition. In addition, Ingalls treated and released 13 from its emergency room. St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island treated and released nine. South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest treated and released four, and St. Margaret’s Hospital in Hammond, Ind., treated and released 10.
There were two fatalities in the collision, the engineer and fireman of the ICG freight. A sad note to this incident was that Captain Alfred Schultz of East Hazel Crest, who had gone to the scene with his chief to assist in the rescue efforts, had a heart attack and died on returning to the station.
The uninjured passengers were taken to the Harvey Police Department, where they boarded buses for Chicago’s Union Station, where the train was headed.
NTSB investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board held its on-site hearings on December 19th and its preliminary findings show the probability of the collision being caused by an inexperienced switch tender throwing a switch in the path of the passenger train, which was traveling at an estimated 60 mph. When it entered the switch, the Amtrak train immediately collided with the lead engine of the standing freight train.
The first of the box response units were released at 10:33 p.m. and continued to be released until 3:39 a.m., when the last unit was released. However, several Harvey units remained on the scene during cleanup operations and the last of these, Harvey Engines 7 and 8, were released at 10:55 on the morning of the 13th.
During this operation, the units standing by in Harvey stations responded to two calls for building fires and three requests for medical aid.
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