No matter where a first responder is in the county, there’s a school district with school buses transporting students to and from school.
While no one wants an accident with a bus full of students involved, it’s not unheard of. To prepare for those accidents, Glenvil Fire and Rescue hosted a bus extrication training Nov. 14, for Clay and neighboring county’s first responders.
Colby Jensen with Glenvil F&R, served as Thursday’s moderator for the training, and discussed the different types of school buses and an idea of what to do when an accident happens.
“This will not be a normal scene, there will be lots of chaos and kids involved,” Jensen said.
This type of accident is considered an MCI event, which involves all nearby hospitals, landing zones for medical helicopters, collection and reunification points for students and parents, staging, and will involve several first responders.
Those in attendance learned and talked about the various exit points on buses and the most effective way to extricate students.
They also discussed triage, possible ways to enter a bus, and how to properly stabilize a bus—this came down to how the bus came to a stop, as most are designed to be stable, but some situations may require outside help to become stable.
After the inside training, first responders went outside to look at one of the buses Sandy Creek has.
Along with finding stabilization points, entryways, and exits, EMS also learned the many options of extracting students.
On this particular bus, there is the usual back-door exit, as well as two exit points on the roof and a side window door that opens out.
One of the items mentioned about this bus is the main doors will not open from the outside, even in the event of an emergency. It has to be opened from the inside or pried open from the outside; however, a few EMS said the doors are difficult to open even with proper tools.
While not all buses are alike, nor are the collection and reunification plans at each school, Jensen suggested responders go back to their communities and school districts and talk about a plan for taking students from the scene and reunifying them with parents/guardians.
