By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
February 17, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Missouri —The scene was tense. A hard break on a streetcar ride left riders with injuries. The city had to halt all service until the scene was cleared.

Luckily for everyone involved, it was all staged.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, the KC Streetcar Authority, the City of Kansas City, MO, and Herzog Transit Services conducted a full scale emergency exercise as part of the planning phase of the KC Streetcar system. This plan was produced with input and guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). The purpose of the exercise was to test operational coordination and preparedness of the KC Streetcar and first responder personnel in the event of an incident involving a streetcar. KC Streetcar Authority personnel along with the Kansas City Police Department, the Kansas City Fire Department, first responders and the City of Kansas City, Missouri, coordinated and practiced their emergency protocols for dealing with such an incident.

During the drill, which took place on-site at Singleton Yard, Donna Mandelbaum, Streetcar Authority marketing and communications coordinator, said some participants knew in advance a drill was taking place. Others received a call as if a real incident had happened.

“There needed to be that element of surprise for some,” Mandelbaum said.

This sort of test will be done annually by the Kansas City Streetcar Authority. Although this time the exercise involved a hard break with minor injuries, the scenarios can differ in the future. Regardless of the scenario, Mandelbaum said the key to these test runs is internal communication.

Although a full review won’t be available for a couple of week, she said everything went well, communication was strong amongst the participants and everything was completed ahead of schedule.

“The city’s emergency management office is amazing,” Mandelbaum said.