Area first responders and rail bike employees prepare for 'what if'

RIPARIUS | Revolution Rail, a rising business in Warren County, saw some different guests Tuesday, July 21. Members from several EMS and fire agencies in Northern Warren County conducted training at the Riverside Station location in Riparius. The drill, a simulated Mass Casualty Incident (MCI), involved several 'passengers' who were pedaling Rail Bikes on the tracks along the beautiful Hudson River. Moulage or fake injuries ranged from scrapes and bruises to broken arms and were made to look real with the use of fake blood. One of the actors even faked a heart attack. Riverside Volunteer Fire Department (RVFD) and Revolution Rail began planning the event a few months back. On one occasion, members of RVFD were oriented to the Rail bikes. On that evening, they discussed extraction points, turnaround procedures, Rail Bike familiarization, and to top off the drill, members were treated to a rail bike ride compliments of Revolution Rail. Riverside Fire Chief Kevin Feldt said he is always thinking of the 'what ifs'. "We have seen an increase in guests of Rev Rail and have had many questions of what we would do in case of an emergency down the tracks. A lot of our goals and questions were answered this evening." One of the biggest concerns was how to extract multiple victims. Riverside VFD owns a High Rail truck which rides the rails or tracks, but they reached out to other fire agencies for UTVS that could also be deployed if needed. "We also wanted to make this drill feel somewhat real, so we reached out to several EMS agencies as well," added Chief Feldt. Kerri Lambert, a manager of Revolution Rail, said, "Thank you to all the emergency services that participated in the demonstration. We (Rev Rail) truly appreciate the community support, and we all learned a great deal from the event." Along with Riverside Fire, members from Chestertown Fire, North River Fire and Pottersville Fire also attended. Chestertown also provided standby coverage in the event of a fire call. EMS agencies in attendance were Johnsburg EMS, North Warren EMS and Warrensburg EMS. A special thanks to our victims and guides for the event, some of whom are employees of Rev Rail and some who are children of Riverside members. After a debriefing involving all agencies, refreshments were prepared and served from an anonymous donor.

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Area first responders and rail bike employees prepare for 'what if'

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