2023-11-06 06:43:11
Paramedics had to take around 25 minutes to assist a woman who had fallen ill on a Réseau express métropolitain (REM) train, while it was stopped between two stations last week. The event raises concerns regarding deficiencies in safety protocol on light rail.
Published at 1:43 a.m. Updated at 5:00 a.m.
Last Monday, a call was received at 911 at 5:14 p.m. to request emergency intervention due to a woman who had lost consciousness on a REM train, near Panama station, in Brossard. The train was then stopped between two stations, since a computer problem had trapped dozens of passengers in the carriages for more than two hours.
At 5:22 p.m., first responders arrived on scene. “An ambulance was dispatched, but the paramedics called me back to say they might not [pouvaient] not access the train,” says Thomas, the author of the call.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Panama REM station, in Brossard
“One of our supervisors spoke with a REM manager to find out how to proceed,” explains ambulance driver Renaud Pilon, who also takes care of relations with the media at the Cooperative of Ambulance Technicians of Montérégie (CETAM). “Finally, we had to evacuate the patient from the car, because it might not be brought back to the station. The whole process of getting there, as it wasn’t clear enough, it certainly delayed our treatment. »
Ultimately, the patient was only able to be assisted by ambulance technicians around twenty minutes later, shortly following 5:40 p.m., an intervention delay which can be fatal in the event of danger to life.
“This is completely unacceptable”
For Thomas, who prefers to withhold his last name, this whole affair “raised a very big doubt regarding the capacity of the emergency services and the REM team to intervene” among the users who were present with him on the train , That day.
At one point, the woman’s breathing was “irregular and quite worrying,” he relates. “I insisted that someone press the button to communicate with the operator, who didn’t really seem to know what to do,” the user continues.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Paramedics had to take around 25 minutes to assist a woman who was unwell on a Réseau express métropolitain train.
Fortunately, the woman’s condition stabilized between the call and the arrival of help, says Thomas, who frequently uses public transportation.
This is very worrying. If it had been a more serious problem or someone who needed immediate intervention, what would we have done? There was really preparation that wasn’t there, and as a user, that’s not reassuring.
Thomas
“For us, the concern was first and foremost a safety issue,” says paramedic Renaud Pilon. CETAM affirms that discussions took place following the event with the CDPQ Infra team, in order to “improve the decision-making process” if such scenarios were to recur.
“In fact, what we need is faster confirmation and the establishment of an effective process on the REM side to be able to have the green light,” explains Renaud Pilon.
“It was written in the sky”
At Trajectoire Québec, an organization that defends the rights of public transport users, we are also concerned. “We were assured that the protocol was up to standard, but it is clear with last Monday’s intervention that there are significant delays before emergency services can access the REM. We therefore come to the conclusion that no, the protocol is not doing its job and that it must be improved quickly,” maintains its general director, Sarah V. Doyon.
She also recalls that seven police forces had also sounded the alarm in 2022, before the arrival of the REM on the South Shore, deploring the fact that the security intervention plan had been designed without them.
“The possibilities of an evacuation being necessary at a station or train are real. At first glance, the information obtained […] do not allow us to conclude that adequate measures have been planned,” wrote the police directors, in a letter sent to CDPQ Infra, which subsequently assured that discussions were underway.
“It’s annoying, because it was predictable, it was written in the sky. In prolonged outages, especially between stations, we know that there will be people who will panic more than others. It can create very anxiety-provoking situations and they must be managed,” persists Ms. Doyon.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Sarah V. Doyon, general director of Trajectoire Québec
It’s a bit as if the worst-case scenario had not been considered.
Sarah V. Doyon, general director of Trajectoire Québec
Towards a “corrected” process
In response to our questions, CDPQ Infra specified by email that it had recently “required from its partners Alstom and AtkinsRealis a corrected plan to better ensure the quality of operations and significantly improve incident management”.
The organization points out, however, that when cars are stopped between two stations during a breakdown, “safety procedures dictate that intervention officers should be quickly deployed to the stopped trains and that they be brought back to normal.” station to allow users to exit.”
“When cars are stopped between two stations during a service outage, users are safe on board. However, in exceptional cases determined by factors such as response times, downtime or safety, it may be decided that it is preferable to evacuate the train between stations,” explains further. CDPQ Infra.
After the request for assistance, on Monday, the decision was quickly taken by the REM control center “to evacuate these cars considering their proximity to the station and to allow paramedics to quickly reach the person who needed assistance », assures the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement.
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