CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – For many students, the school day starts at the bus stop.
“Precious cargo that’s on that bus,” Clay County School District Director of Transportation Randall Crawford said.
And with thousands of students getting ready for the school year, the transportation department in Clay County is working to make sure your kids are safe.
“So I mean, we’re the ones that get them from school, the drivers are the first one the kids see, and for 9 out of 10 they’re the last one throughout the day,” Crawford said.
So to help ensure everyone is ready, Clay County schools practiced the worst-case scenario on Thursday.
For free, Miracle Towing flipped a bus to simulate a crash and called Clay County Fire Rescue to get the mannequins strapped inside out safely.
“So we sent our trucks as we would in that exact emergency. They responded,” Clay County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Laura Hanstein said. “They assess the situation and actually had to remove seven victims that were inside the bus when it rolled over, so it gave us the opportunity to assess patients in an MCI situation, allowing us to actually do the things that we would do that we don’t often get to do in a real-life scenario.”
The exercise simulated riders who were not fastened by a seat belt, had a wheelchair and several other scenarios that make the rescue unique. They ripped open the windows and pulled the simulated victims out to assess their injuries.
“Worst-case scenario,” Crawford said. “Obviously, this is something we do not see every day, thankfully, but we want to train our staff. We wanna make sure that everyone’s prepared.”
The bus drivers were there and watched the rescue as it happened. They got to examine the bus and how certain circumstances influenced the outcome.
“Encourage your kids to wear the seat belt,” Hanstein said. “When the mannequins were in [the bus], the mannequins that were wearing the seat belts were far less injured than the mannequins that were not wearing the seat belt, so that’s a great message for parents as we start school.”
School in Clay County starts on Tuesday.