Near-Disaster Puts Medical, Fire Crew Skills to the Test

The calls that came in to St. Jude Medical Center on Thursday morning had all the markings of a full-fledged disaster: A southbound commuter train had slammed into a northbound freight train. The scene was a maelstrom of flames and dust and the Fullerton hospital was told to expect as many as 15 victims.

“We prepared for the worst,” said Alain A. Jourdier, a vice president of the St. Joseph Health System, St. Jude’s parent company.

But the worst didn’t happen.

Instead, even as St. Jude launched a disaster plan, dubbed Triage II and reserved for the most dire emergencies, the aftermath of the train crash seemed to belie the violence of the collision.

St. Jude wound up treating just two patients, one with a broken right arm, one with a sprained wrist and a bumped head. Four victims were taken to Placentia Linda Community Hospital, four to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Anaheim, and two to Brea Community Hospital. By late afternoon, almost all of them had been sent home or were being released.

In all, 19 people were believed injured, none critically.

Even as important questions were raised about mass transit and the coordination of train schedules, everyone from emergency workers to doctors--even train passengers themselves--breathed a sigh of relief that the price of the crash wasn’t higher.

Some chalked it up to chance. The commuter train, for example, had room for 560 people, but only 65 were on board. Others said it was nothing short of a miracle.

“There is a lot to praise God for,” said Sharon Gloudeman, 40, of Palmdale, as she left St. Jude, her sprained wrist wrapped in gauze and jutting from the sleeve of her red B.U.M. sweater. “There is a lot to be thankful for.”

At first, it didn’t seem that would be the case.

Passengers and victims described the scene that unfolded inside the commuter train as pandemonium.

As the train tried to slow, passengers lurched forward. The sickening sound of metal folding into metal seemed to last for several seconds before the true impact came, hurling several people from one end of train cars to the other.

Several passengers began screaming. Others quietly prayed. Flames burst from the engine--”a tremendous orange fire,” said Elizabeth Pulsinelli, 31, a Chapman University photography instructor who transferred to the ill-fated train in Los Angeles.

“That is the closest I’ve ever been to death,” said Lamont Hawkins, 41, of Long Beach, who was taken by ambulance to Martin Luther Hospital in Anaheim and treated for smoke inhalation and bruises. “Thank God nobody was killed.”

*

That was a familiar refrain by Thursday afternoon.

Just last week, the Fullerton Fire Department ran a mass-casualty drill to prepare for handling such a potentially bloody disaster, said Division Chief Dan Chidester.

Thursday morning’s train wreck proved to be the ultimate test of their capabilities, Chidester said, because the firefighters who arrived first on the scene had three major and simultaneous tasks: evacuating passengers from the commuter train, extinguishing raging flames that threatened the passengers and containing a potential hazardous-material spill from one of the freight train’s cargo holds.

“You’ve got injured, you’ve got fire and you’ve got a spill,” Chidester said. “It doesn’t get any more taxing than that.”

Good fortune and good training helped prevent deaths or serious injuries, he said.

“All and all, I’d have to say it’s a pretty good success story,” Chidester said.

Likewise, Fullerton hospital officials had prepared for the worst.

“At first, it did seem horrible,” said St. Jude spokeswoman Lori Brandt. “But once we heard there were no more victims coming, we were very relieved. We were set up for a lot worse of a situation.”

Indeed, the crash provided a peek at the readiness of St. Jude, which bills itself as the largest emergency hospital in the area, to handle a true disaster.

In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake not only caused $6 billion in damage, killed nearly 70 people, collapsed freeways and disrupted the World Series, it also caused hospitals across California to reassess whether they were prepared for large-scale disasters.

The answer, in short: no. Many hospitals discovered that their plans relied too heavily on equipment and rooms that might be damaged or destroyed in an earthquake. So, like St. Jude, many hospitals devised plans to establish MASH-like triage centers outside.

That’s what St. Jude--which also happened to run a disaster drill last week--was preparing to do Thursday after the initial calls came in from the accident site. The hospital keeps the makings of a mobile emergency room out back, said Chris Thompson, the hospital’s manager of safety and security. Inside are 100 stretchers, several large tents, search-and-rescue equipment for 40 people, ham radios and nine portable generators.

“Everyone in the industry [reassessed their disaster plans after Loma Prieta],” Jourdier said. “It was a wake-up call. We realized that this is not fiction. This is real. So the system is getting much more refined.”

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Some of the victims of Thursday’s crash:

* Four people were taken to Placentia Linda Community Hospital complaining of minor back and leg pain: Taran Ghura, 26, of the Santa Clarita Valley; Sunshine Holguin, 25, of Norwalk; Bella Flores, 37, of Los Angeles; and Elizabeth Pulsinelli, 31, of Los Angeles. They were all treated and released by 4 p.m.

* A 68-year-old Canoga Park woman and a 34-year-old Monterey Park man were taken to Brea Community Hospital with minor neck and back injuries. Both were treated and released by 1 p.m.

* Gloudeman and another woman, an unidentified 24-year-old from Fontana, were treated at St. Jude. Gloudeman was released about noon. The other woman was transferred to Kaiser Permanente, where she was in fair condition and was scheduled to undergo surgery to her fractured arm.

* A 51-year-old woman, a 36-year-old woman, a 43-year-old woman and a 56-year-old man were taken to Kaiser Permanente directly, with neck, back and hand bruises, officials said. All were released by 2 p.m.

Times correspondents Louise Roug and Young Chang and Times staff writer Phil Willon contributed to this story.

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Back on Track

Commuters taking the train today can expect normal schedules and operations. Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said. To check for last minute changes in service, commuters can call Metrolink’s customer service department at (800) 371-LINK or check for updates that will be posted all the day on Metrolink’s Web page, https://www.metrolinktrains.com