PROVIDENCE – The Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) in partnership with the Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) and Amtrak are sponsoring a full scale emergency disaster exercise on Saturday, October 3 at 1pm at the Amtrak Maintenance of Way facility (MOW) on Royal Little Drive in Providence.

The simulated multi-agency exercise is part of an ongoing effort to train local public safety personnel in responding to emergency situations involving passenger trains.  The mock disaster will include the removal of passengers as well as the triage, transportation and care of these individuals.

“The training exercise is a good opportunity for the MMRS community to sharpen its skills as we prepare to respond to what could be a real-life passenger rail emergency,” said Gaynor.

“The exercise will serve as an example of multi-agency cooperation to prepare for this type of emergency scenario,” said Larry Beard, Amtrak’s Senior Director of Emergency Preparedness.  “Amtrak has been and remains supportive of any initiative which enhances our passengers’ safety.”

The drill will test the ability of approximately 80 first responders and support personnel, as well as other local agencies such as the Rhode Island Department of Health, Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Lifespan to respond to possible large scale mass casualty incidents.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security created the MMRS program to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from large-scale emergency disasters.  The Rhode Island MMRS communities are: Providence, Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Johnston, North Providence, Pawtucket, Warwick and West Warwick.