Liz Howard just slipped into unconsciousness, Peter Adams screamed in agony from the lower deck, and Emily Gorski did her best, despite her injuries, to keep everyone calm until help arrived.
Rescue workers lumbered up to the second level of the train car to administer CPR on Howard. In the confusion, one passenger was separated from her child, a little boy named Alex.
"Has anyone seen my little boy? Alex, is that you? I can't find my son," she pleaded.
Peter continued to scream, and the firefighter instructed Emily, the only one not panicked, to calm him.
"Tell Peter I'm helping Liz," he instructed. Sweat dripped from his face.
Peter's lacerated leg was getting worse, and there were reports coming in that another train was barreling down on the scene on the same tracks. It became urgent.
"Help me, anybody!" he screamed.
Back at the triage tent, Liz died, but she felt it wasn't right. Although she was shuffled off to the black tent, her condition card did not have three O's, which was the way they designated fatalities in the train wreck simulation, Sunday, Sept. 22, on the Lake Accotink tracks.
"They did what they were supposed to do. Even though I'm dead, they tried," said Liz, sitting among all the victims and rescue workers who continued to bring out injured passengers.
Everyone was acting in the Common Corridor 2002 exercise involving Virginia Railway Express and Amtrak trains. It was sponsored by the Metro Council of Governments, according to VRE spokesperson Mark Roeber. It's an annual exercise involving training area jurisdictions to handle emergencies.
Dereck Baker, deputy chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, was at the exercise along with rescue teams from the District of Columbia; Montgomery, Arlington, Prince George’s and Prince William counties; Washington airport; VRE, Amtrak and Norfolk Southern Railroad.
"We train once a year with all the local jurisdictions," he said.
Dan Schmidt, a spokesperson for Fairfax, noted the different facets of the exercise.
"Interoperability of different jurisdictions working together, that's a key thing," he said.
They hold a similar exercise every year except last year due to the terrorist attacks, according to Schmidt.
"They usually do it in September. Last year it was canceled because of 9/11," he said.
The year before that, the simulation was held in Washington, D.C. The last wreck of anybody's recollection was in Gainesville, according to Baker.
"We haven't had any incidents in Fairfax County; we've been lucky," he said.
INJURIES WERE not just something that was said. A fire department makeup artist was in the staging area beforehand, making sure the lacerations and head gashes were realistic. Springfield resident Jeanette Hantke was in Germany when there was a train wreck, while she was with the State Department. That spurred her participation in this exercise. She looked at the makeup job on one of the other passengers.
"It's dripping off his chin, it's really realistic," she said of the faux blood.
The paramedic instructed Chris Stowe what to do on the train, as he created a wound on his knee.
"Just scream when they move you around," the paramedic said.
Robert Joy, master technician at Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, briefed participants before they walked down the tracks to the trains.
"Don't run up and down the track. On the train, you need to be in the crash position. You can do your acting. We'll hand out Emmys at the end of the day," Joy said.
Jason Hayes had a head wound and triple O's on his direction card, meaning he was a fatality. Jason was in with the Boy Scout Troop 600, from Warrenton.
"I have no problem with being dead," he said before boarding the train.
Jerome Williams, of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Academy, described the makeup training he received.
"We went to two weeks’ worth. One week at Bethesda Naval Hospital, and they came out to our academy," he said.
Cardinal Forest resident Steve Murray brought son JT, 15, and daughter Allie, 12. He was involved in a disaster simulation involving traffic while living in West Virginia before.
"I thought I'd introduce my children to a wreck disaster," he said.
Lorie Ward had the same feeling with Benjamin, 8, who is in third grade at Ravensworth Elementary.
"I figured it'd be a good experience for a third-grade Fairfax County student," he said.
Benjamin had his own plans.
"I want to get hooked up to medical," he said.
A TRAIN OF BI-LEVEL cars stretched near the medical staging area, which was off the Lake Accotink road in the Crestwood neighborhood of Springfield. The "injured" found places throughout the cars where they nestled in for the exercise. Some were entangled in the seats, while others were strewn in the aisles.
Timothy Yuskavage was with Boy Scout Troop 990 from North Springfield.
"I'm doing it for a badge. One of the things is to be in an emergency scenario," he said.
Gil Baldwin brought the Scouts, who were all chosen for the serious injuries, as indicated on the cards that were handed out.
"This kind of fell right in our laps," said Baldwin.
He rides the VRE every day from the Rolling Road station to Union Station, which takes him through a tunnel. That is a little worrisome when you think of a terrorist attempt, said Baldwin.
"That provides some opportunity," he said.
Roeber said the training involved the Kawasaki bi-level cars for the first time since their inception three years ago. This was a challenge, as some victims were removed on stretchers and backboards, which don't go around corners easily.
"It's good for them to get a feel for our equipment. As you move your fleet to a totally two-decker fleet, you better get used to it," he said.
Schmidt noted this aspect for the rescue workers.
"Double deck was a challenging part of this exercise," he said, noting that maneuvering the backboards "was one of the lessons learned," he said.
On the e-mail sent out to all the volunteers, it stated "all participants will be asked to sign a release statement when they check in. Every effort will be taken to ensure that you will not be injured. Should you become injured during the exercise, your injuries will be treated immediately and completely."
There was a pink card available to let firefighters know that the participants were really injured.
One Prince George’s firefighter was overwhelmed by the heat and treated at the scene, according to Schmidt.