GOP lawmakers help people injured in train crash

Members of Congress en route to West Virginia for the GOP retreat quickly moved to help the people in a garbage truck that collided with their train.

Several Republican lawmakers on board had medical training, according to sources.

Local reports and a GOP aide on the train said there was at least one fatality and one serious injury among the people who were in the truck.

Aides on the train or in contact with their bosses who were passengers said there did not appear to be any injuries among people onboard. Some passengers bumped heads or hit the floor, but no serious injuries were reported.

{mosads}

Photos from the scene showed that the truck storage detached from the passenger compartment entirely, with trash strewn all over the scene.

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said on CNN that lawmakers helped secure one person on a stretcher.

“He was pretty bad off. I hope he survives,” Flake said.

Flake said paramedics tried to help the person in the truck who died, but they “couldn’t revive him.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) also said on CNN that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Reps. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) and Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) were among the lawmakers rushing to help.

“They were actually the first person on the scene as far as I could tell,” Cole said. “They were administering CPR to the folks who had been hurt in the crash.”

It’s not the first that time Wenstrup, a former combat surgeon, applied his medical training during an emergency that occurred during his time as a member of Congress.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) credited Wenstrup with saving his life at the GOP congressional baseball practice shooting last June. Wenstrup applied a tourniquet on Scalise’s gunshot wound, which helped staunch the bleeding before he made it to the hospital for surgery.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), who was also on board the train, said the House chaplain, Patrick Conroy, was also on the train and went to be with the people injured.

“A number of members of Congress who are doctors tried to help,” Fortenberry added.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) also noted on Twitter that while he and most other lawmakers were “fine” after the crash, his colleagues had rushed to help others involved in the accident.

My family and I on train to a retreat. Hit a garbage truck. Jarring, but everyone ok on train. Severe injury in truck. Maybe a death. Fr. Conroy there with injured. A number of Members of Congress who are doctors tried to help.

— Jeff Fortenberry (@JeffFortenberry) January 31, 2018

We’re fine, but our train hit a garbage truck. Members with medical training are assisting the drivers of the truck. pic.twitter.com/0I9jOwHTmb

— Rep. Greg Walden (@repgregwalden) January 31, 2018