Amtrak achieves emergency management program accreditation

Amtrak has earned accreditation by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP) that typically is awarded to federal, state, local and tribal emergency response agencies.

To achieve voluntary accreditation, an applicant must demonstrate through self-assessment, documentation and peer assessment, verification that its program meets industry standards.

EMAP recognizes the ability of emergency management programs to bring together personnel, resources and communications from a variety of agencies and organizations in preparation for and in response to an emergency, in addition to obtaining the ability to measure those capabilities.

"Consistently evaluating, exercising and updating the Amtrak emergency management program is our commitment to our passengers, employees and the communities where we travel. We are ready to respond to any emergency as a unified and coordinated team," said Mary Carlson Bis, Amtrak's assistant vice president of response and resilience, in a news release.

Amtrak's emergency management team leads the cycle of response planning, training, equipping, exercising, evaluating and fostering continuous improvements, Amtrak officials said.