Response for mock streetcar emergency shuts down roads near the Plaza
It wasn’t real, but agencies responded as if it were.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Parts of Broadway Boulevard were shut down in the middle of the day Friday, along with numerous other roads near the Plaza, as first responders took part in a full-scale emergency response scenario.
It wasn’t real, but agencies responded as if it were, with volunteers acting as injured engers on a nearby streetcar.
KCFD, KD, EMS, Street Car Operators, and more rushed to the scene as dispatchers called out an incident involving a motorcyclist who had crashed and was pinned under the streetcar.
It was an intense response in the area with sirens and bullhorns blasting out to communicate with all the responders.
KCMO Transportation Director Jason Waldron said this exercise is a requirement for streetcar operations as they continue expanding the service around the city.
“We’re in a very exciting part of the Main Street extension we are in the testing [phase], we’re almost done with construction and then this is just one more step to getting us to that opening day the revenue services as we call it and this is a federal requirement for us to be ready, be prepared and to be coordinated with our emergency services,” he said.
After the exercise, the groups of responders collaborated about how things went. The transportation department will review the results and determine what, if any, changes need to be made to Kansas City’s emergency response plan.
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