When a woman was struck by a Metro train at a station in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, first responders had to assess the situation and get her to safety as quickly as possible.
The woman had a medical emergency and fell onto the Silver Line tracks at the Court House Metro Station on Jan. 23, a little before 5:15 p.m. She was pinned against a rail when an oncoming train didn’t stop in time and hit her.
The incident commander shut the power to the third rail down and two rescuers crawled between the platform and the train wheels.
“They basically crawled along that safe haven underneath the platform,” Arlington County Fire Department Captain Kevin Troiano told WTOP news partner NBC Washington. “We were able to talk to her into what was happening, that folks were coming up around her left side and not to be concerned about what they were doing, that they were there to get her out.”
The woman was safely rescued and transported to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Arlington County firefighter Ryan Denelsbeck told NBC Washington that passengers were understandably upset at the scene, but first responders are taught to stay focused on the patient.
“I got down on my knees across from the cop and I began talking with her, checking to see what kind of injuries she had, figure out how severely injured she was,” Denelsbeck said. “It’s something we train for and we understand getting into this line of work you just kind of have to zone them out and kind of just know your job that you’re there to do a job. You have to focus on the patient.”
Below is an interview with first responders from WTOP’s news partner NBC Washington.