JOPLIN, Mont. – Of 50 people injured in the Empire Builder train wreck, eight were transported to Trauma Level II hospitals. They were reported in stable condition. Five were air-evacuated to Great Falls, 100 miles away, and three to Kalispell, 210 miles away. Like all hospitals in Montana, the hospitals already were overtaxed with Covid patients. At the wreck three other passengers were dead when rescuers climbed into the derailed cars. Small community hospitals scattered along the Amtrak route are designated only as “trauma receiving centers.” The nearest Trauma Level I centers are in Denver, Fargo, Minneapolis, Omaha and Seattle, none nearer than 750 miles.
Earlier: Train survivor: “Like extreme turbulence on a plane”
Short-grass country. A cluster of 3,000-foot volcanic buttes, called the Sweet Grass Hills, are the most distinctive geographic feature in the rough rangeland stretching every direction from Joplin. The buttes, near the Alberta border, are visible to railroad travelers from trains 30 miles away.