CLAY COUNTY, Florida. – For many students, the school day begins at the bus stop.
“There is valuable cargo on this bus,” said Randall Crawford, transportation director for the Clay County School District.
And as thousands of students prepare for the school year, the Clay County Department of Transportation is working to keep your children safe.
“So we pick up the kids from school, the drivers are the first thing the kids see, and 9 times out of 10 they’re the last thing they see during the day,” Crawford said.
To make sure everyone is prepared, Clay County schools practiced worst-case scenarios on Thursday.
Miracle Towing flipped a bus for free to simulate an accident and called the Clay County Fire Department to safely strap the dummies down.
“So we dispatched our vehicles like we would have in this exact emergency. They responded,” said Laura Hanstein, chief of the Clay County Fire Rescue Battalion. “They assessed the situation and actually had to rescue seven victims that were on the bus when it overturned. So we had the opportunity to assess patients in an MCI situation and actually do the things that we would do but that we don’t often get to do in a real-world scenario.”
The exercise simulated drivers unbelted, in wheelchairs, and several other scenarios that made the rescue unique. They ripped open the windows and pulled out the simulated victims to assess their injuries.
“Worst case scenario,” Crawford said. “Obviously, that’s something we don’t see every day, but we want to train our staff. We want to make sure everyone is prepared.”
The bus drivers were on site and observed the rescue operation live. They were able to examine the bus and see how certain circumstances influenced the outcome.
“Encourage your kids to wear their seat belts,” Hanstein said. “When the dolls were on the bus, the dolls that were buckled in were far less likely to be injured than the dolls that weren’t buckled in. So that’s a great message for parents as we start school.”
School in Clay County begins on Tuesday.
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