Rail line accident test for 999 crews

Fire crews from Battle, Rye, Burwash, Broad Oak and Bexhill arrived at the Rother Valley Railway just after 7pm to a mocked-up incident involving a train which had hit two cars at a low speed at a level crossing.

A number of volunteers from the railway acted as train passengers, whilst other East Sussex Fire and Rescue staff pretended to be casualties in the vehicles.

Train passengers were led to safety, while those in the cars were cut free using specialist hydraulic cutting equipment.

The 'injured' were then assessed and treated.

Leo Cacciatore, crew commander at Battle Fire Station, helped direct the exercise.

He said: "It was a training exercise to test our procedures when working with railway lines and so we could work with ambulance crews as well, who are our closest partners in the emergency services.

"We also wanted to practice our extraction techniques and we also wanted to try out specialist equipment we hold at Battle Fire Station and carry on our technical rescue unit."

Six fire fighting appliances, along with the technical rescue unit, were on the scene, working alongside two ambulance crews, South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) doctors and the SECAMB Hazard Area Response Team (HART), which specialises in extraction and rescue techniques.

Mr Cacciatore said: "It was quite a large multi-agency incident.

"It was quite a challenging exercise as we tried to set it up as realistically as possible.

"These sorts of incidents are rare, but we have to prepare and be ready for them.

"We do have a number of open level crossings in the county, so it is raising people's awareness of not dodging the lights which could result in this sort of thing.

"We all learnt something from it and can take it as a good experience. It was a success."

He added: "The Rother Valley Railway volunteers up there were absolutely wonderful in helping us to do this exercise by moving trains and letting us use the site.

"We would like to thank the Rother Valley Railway volunteers because without them the exercise would not have been possible."

The exercise was over by 10pm, with all 'casualties' returning home unhurt.