9-1-1 Calls Provide Vivid Account of Washington State Train Derailment

SEATTLE (AP) — Whimpering in pain, bleeding from head injuries and dazed by the enormity of the crash, victims in the Amtrak train derailment south of Seattle begged 911 dispatchers for help and said "tons of people" had been hurt. Dozens of emergency recordings released Wednesday by South Sound 911 Dispatch provided a vivid account of what happened during the deadly Dec. 18 crash. "My abdomen hurts really bad. I don't feel good," said a crying woman identified as Angela who was bleeding from her head and wailed in panic each time she couldn't find an answer to a dispatcher's questions. "I don't know how old I am off the top of my head. I'm sorry!" Angela was in Car 5 with her 14-year-old son as the passenger train barreled through a curve at 78 mph (126 kph) in a 30 mph zone, derailing along both sides of the tracks and toppling some cars onto Interstate 5 below. Angela begged for help and ordered her bleeding son to lie still because he had neck and back pain. He took a hit to his face. They got slammed into a table. She couldn't find her shoes. "Everybody's getting off but I'm afraid to move my son," Angela said, adding that "tons of people are hurt!" Authorities say it could take more than a year to understand how the inaugural run of the train carrying 85 passengers and crew members ended in disaster along a new 15-mile (24-kilometer) bypass route. Friends Jim Hamre, 61, and Zack Willhoite, 35, died of brain and skull ...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Major Incidents News Communications & Dispatch Source Type: news