As indicated in the station advisory for Flagstaff, station personnel were on duty this morning so I guess this lady had not checked the Amtrak website to discover that the station would be closed yesterday. Did any Amtrak personnel at her boarding station inform her of this?
As I watched this on rewind yesterday, it struck me that it was taking an inordinate amount of time to detrain this lady at Flagstaff. The crew set up the ramp. A crew member went into the car, eventually followed by the conductor, while the attendant for that car seemed to nervously pace outside the car door. Eventually the lady's walker was brought out and some small pieces of luggage and set on the platform. One had to wonder what was going on inside. Was this lady in the restroom? Was she uncooperative with train personnel? Had she boarded without a ticket and was being ejected (If so, this raises the question in these days of light travel, how she was able to board without a ticket?)
Was she being removed this fashion because she was discovered to have the virus? In that case I would think that an ambulance should have been called in advance. I have been at the station in Flagstaff when the Fire Dept. ambulance crew was waiting for No. 3 arriving with a medical emergency. The fire dept. crew arrived at the station a good half hour before the train. From what I could see they are first rate professional organization. If notified in advance, they would have been these well in advance of the train's arrival.
This lady was wheeled off the train and left on the platform and from what I could see and hear, there was virtually no communication between the train crew and this lady. That must have taken place inside and the crew seemed to give the impression that they were glad to get rid of her.
I see in another discussion group someone speculated that the train crew "allowed" the woman to stay on the train as long as possible perhaps out of great kindness. I hardly think that was the case.
This lady was left in her wheelchair at the west end of the station, opposite from the better lighted east end where the closed waiting room is located. She started crying for help shortly after the train left which would seem to indicate that no arrangements had been made by anyone, including herself, to be picked up.
The woman was just barely able to move the wheelchair but did move it a few feet away from the tracks. If she had accidently rolled onto the tracks, the result could have been quite serious.
As someone has noted it was 16 minutes from the time the train left until the time the Flagstaff PD arrived to assist, evidently called by someone who was watching on the webcam.
It appears to me that there was something wrong with the way this was handled. Luke 10:29-37.
