RAC Week at the JIBC complete!

The week of June 6-10 saw railway tank cars on fire, leaking liquids and vapour. Fortunately, it was not real, but a very realistic training course put on by the Railway Association of Canada's Dangerous Goods Team.

This railway Emergency Response course, which we call RAC Week was delivered at the Justice Institute of British Columbia's (JIBC) Maple Ridge facility. This state of the art facility not only trains fire fighters but also has a major derailment prop on the property.

This is the third year that the RAC Dangerous Goods Team comprised of Andy Ash, Curtis Myson and Jean Pierre Couture, has offered this 50 hour course at the JIBC.

The students who attended this course are first responders, industry responders, transportation E/R service providers (contractors) and regulators. They attended lectures given by a variety of instructors with extensive experience and then participated in many outdoor, hands-on activities such as derailment site assessment techniques, plugging and patching leaking railway tank cars, apply valve capping kits, transfer railway tank cars to other tank cars or tank trucks, flare off excess product from damaged tanks, don and doff special chemical protective suits and get decontaminated, repair damaged and leaking tank car valves.

The week was completed with the class responding to a call about a major derailment and had form a team to respond to the dangerous goods involved.

It was not real of course, but as the students say - it was real enough!

Our next course is in October (which is SOLD OUT!), and we hope to offer the same in 2012!