AskRail – Railroad Emergency Response App

There was an interesting article at ProgressiveRailroad.com today about a new emergency response application for railroad accidents; AskRail. This is a free application developed by the Association of American Railroads to provide first responders an immediate source of information about hazardous materials being shipped by rail; including:

∙ Specific rail car contents;

∙ Railroad emergency contact information; and

∙ Emergency Response Guide information.

According to IPhoneInCanada.ca 1700 first responders are already using AskRail. Their article includes some screen shots from the app. CN has apparently contacted Canadian municipalities to invite their first responders to apply to receive AskRail.

I have not been able to find a link to be used to obtain the app. According to all the information that I have been able to find it will be made available to first responders that have completed emergency response training conducted by Class I railroads of the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) in Pueblo, CO. The use of AskRail will reportedly be included in all future railroad hazmat response training conducted by those organizations.

If anyone has any additional details about AskRail, has used it, or has received training on it, please let me know.