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Lessons in Emergency Evacuation from the Miamisburg Train Derailment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Robert A. De Lorenzo  and
James J. Augustine
Robert A. De Lorenzo*
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Darnall Army Community Hospital, Fort Hood, Texas
James J. Augustine
Affiliation:
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Wright State University, School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
*
Department of Emergency Medicine, Darnall Army Community Hospital, Fort Hood, TX 76544-5063USA
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Abstract

Hazardous materials incidents result from the release of materials considered to be harmful or potentially harmful to human beings or the environment. This article describes a train derailment and subsequent hazardous materials release with the evacuation of approximately 50,000 citizens. The hazardous materials release took five days to control and resulted in 561 patient visits to local emergency departments for symptoms related to chemical exposure. The evacuation and emergency medical operations are described and serve as a model for developing community emergency preparedness plans and managing victims involved in hazardous materials incidents.

Keywords

disaster planemergency departmentemergency medical servicesevacuationfire departmenthazardous materialshazmatlaw enforcementphosphoruspolice
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 270 - 275
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1996

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