Union Pacific Railroad conducted tank car safety training for 62 emergency response personnel from 12 states at the rail industry's testing facility in Pueblo, Colorado. Two five-day courses were held from September 21-26 and October 5-10. Union Pacific paid for all attendees' expenses, with no cost to communities or organizations. "Our tank car safety programs are an important feature of our ongoing commitment to educating first responders in the communities we serve," said Mark Maday, Union Pacific's manager, Hazardous Materials Training. "These five-day courses offer important information and hands-on experience responders can use to protect themselves and their communities in the unlikely event of a rail-related hazardous material incident." The training covered a variety of safety subjects including how to identify tank car types, tank car construction features, and the fittings and safety appliances on tank cars. Participants received hands-on experience in assessing tank car damage, making repairs, controlling the release of hazardous materials from damaged rail cars and using proper protective clothing. Class members also participated in a large scale exercise that simulated a hazardous material incident. The exercise was intended to help students learn how to safely respond to a hazardous materials incident, as well as how to effectively work with Union Pacific in the event of such an incident. The five-day, 40-hour courses were held at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center located at the Association of American Railroad's Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado. Since 1986, Union Pacific has sponsored 53 five-day training programs at the Transportation Technology Center. Union Pacific regularly reaches out to fire departments as well as other emergency responders along its routes to offer comprehensive training to first responders in communities where the railroad operates. Each year, the company trains approximately 2,500 local, state and federal first-responders on ways to minimize the impact of a potential derailment. Union Pacific has trained nearly 38,000 public responders and almost 7,500 private responders (shippers and contractors) since 2003. This includes classroom and hands-on training.