The first of hundreds of community volunteers completed a Metro awareness program last week to prepare them to assist relief workers in case of a catastrophe on the rail lines.
Federal law enforcement considers the Metro system one of the major targets for terrorism in the District that takes thousands of D.C. employees to work each day..
Training is initially limited to riders who are members of emergency response teams. The Department of Homeland Security is funding the nine-hour training session, which spans three days.
Teams of trained riders will exist in D.C., Alexandria, Arlington, Montgomery, Fairfax and Prince William Counties.
Metro officials are walking the trainees through dark subway tunnels, teaching them to navigate train tracks and passing trains. They are coaching the riders on how to use the emergency systems aboard the trains and how to communicate with train operators, central controllers and rescue workers.
Last week's training session took place at Metro's Brentwood Railway Station. Riders were taught how to open the center doors of a rail car in an emergency, how to retrieve the escape ladder on every railcar, and how to evacuate a train from the front car.
After Metro concludes training emergency response riders, it plans on expanding the courses to a wider audience.
For more information, riders can visit www.wmata.com/riding/safety/evac.cfm at Metro's official Web site and learn response methods.
