KC Streetcar held a routine, full scale, emergency exercise Saturday to ensure policies and protocols are up-to-date and that responders know what to do in case an emergency situation were to happen in real life.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department and EMS all report to the scene, because, similar to real life, they won't know what's going on and who's needed until they get there. Throughout the drill, the responders were all evaluated for their work.
Fake emergencies could be anything from a fire, a crash or someone having a heart attack. Todays scenario was a multi-vehicle collision with the streetcar, with multiple injuries and a fatality.
THIS IS ALL FAKE! This was an emergency exercise today for @kcstreetcar to make sure protocols are up-to-date. Fire, police, EMS treat it as a very real situation. @KSHB41 pic.twitter.com/6SO17CW564
— Caroline Hogan KSHB (@CarolineHoganTV) March 4, 2023
It's made to look very real with actors, makeup, smoke and props.
"We have volunteers here that take their role very seriously," Donna Mandelbaum with KC Streetcar said. A drill like this happens every three years.
"We can’t just assume that everybody knows how this goes, so we have to put this in practice," Mandelbaum said. "This is what we do to keep our riders and our staff safe."
The streetcar expansion up and down Main Street is set to be done in 2025, which means they'll have to do another drill in another few years.
"That will look different because we’re going to grow from a 2 mile system to a 6-and-a-half mile system," Mandelbaum said.
