Question 1 · Scene Safety & Extrication · Easy
You are called to a casualty on an electrified railway line. What must happen before you go onto the track?
- AConfirm that trains have been stopped and the traction current switched off
- BLook carefully in both directions, then cross the track quickly between trains
- CAsk a bystander or the train driver whether any more trains are running
- DAssume the traction current is off once the train involved has stopped
- EWait for the police to arrive and then go onto the track alongside them
Show answer
Answer: A
Confirm that trains have been stopped and the traction current switched off
Never assume the line is safe. The Oxford Handbook's advice on railway incidents is to always ensure the electrical system is turned off; UK systems include 25,000 volt overhead lines and 750 volt DC third rails, and overhead lines disabled by bird strikes are routinely turned back on after 20 minutes, so a stationary train or a quiet line proves nothing. The ABC lists stopping other trains and live overhead or third rail among the safety considerations at a train incident. You need positive confirmation that trains are stopped and the current is off before going onto the track; what you can see, a bystander's opinion or the arrival of the police does not provide it.
Where this comes from
- Oxford Handbook of Pre-Hospital Care
- Ch. 9 The hostile environment · Electrical injuries: railway incidents · p. 560“Always ensure the electrical system is turned off.”
- Ch. 9 The hostile environment · Electrical injuries: railway incidents · p. 560“routinely turned back on after 20 minutes”
- ABC of Prehospital Emergency Medicinep. 180Ch. 33 Emergency Preparedness: Major Incident Management · Table 33.4 Incident types and safety considerations“Stopping other trains, Live overhead or third rail”