NORTH COLLINS, N.Y. — There was a matchup you wouldn’t want to be a part of Sunday in North Collins: train vs. car.
North Collins EMS workers raced to the scene, pried open a car, then treated dummy victims as a part of a training exercise by Operation Lifesaver.
The training is aimed at providing situational awareness for EMS workers and evaluating how their response can be improved in case a real emergency does unfold.
However, in addition to that situational awareness, New York State Police say the larger goal is creating community awareness of the dangers of wandering onto tracks.
“They see the train coming, they see the gates going down and they think they can beat the train,” said Phil Merens, State Coordinator of New York Operation Lifesaver.
“The train wins 100% of the time,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, New York State Police Public Information Officer, Troop A.
Merens and O’Callaghan said while collisions in Western New York are an infrequent sight, the risk isn’t.
“Whenever there's a railroad track, we have people walking down,” O’Callaghan said. “The train doesn't typically leave the tracks, so it's mostly a pedestrian or a vehicles actions that are at fault.”
Back in the 1970s before this program started, a person or a car was hit by a train once every 40 minutes, but since, crashes have dropped by 80% nationwide to now just once every three hours.
But that number still isn't zero, and until it is, EMS workers say they want to stay ready.
“You never hope for something like this to happen,” said Aron Ayers, First Assistant Fire Chief of North Collins. “But anytime you can practice and train on your skills, even a skill you don't think you're ever going to use, it's well worth it.”