Emergency and evacuation training makes millions safer on Dutch railways
With millions of passengers travelling on trains and through railway stations every day in the Netherlands, the chance that an employee of railway company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) will have to respond to an emergency situation is high.
Medical emergencies due to sudden illness are most common, but staffers need to be prepared for more complex, and even dangerous, situations. A terrorist incident at Amsterdam Centraal Station last August, in which two tourists were stabbed by a man who was quickly shot and stopped by police - all within nine seconds - highlights what could happen. In one moment, railway staff needed to provide emergency medical assistance, support police and safely manage a station evacuation.