Teachers, have you ever been on a field trip with your students and thought, "I haven't the slightest clue as to what we would do in an accident..." That's a scary situation. But that's why were here to help. Follow along below of Bus Safety procedures.
Step-By-Step
The following scenario is based on a land rollover event. Different steps will need to be taken in the event of a water landing.
- Establish your bearings - If you just have just experienced an accident, you may be disoriented. Determine your location in the bus. Keep in mind, in the event of a rollover, you could be on the ceiling of the bus.
- Can you move - Relatively simple question, but this is important. Are you lodged under something? Are you under someone? Can you move your arms and legs? If you can't move, can you speak? If so, call for help. Inform rescue personnel that you cannot move. If you can move, continue to the next step.
- Check your buddy - Were you sitting with anyone? If so, locate them. Ask them if they can move. If they can, proceed to exit the bus.
- Locate your closest exit - Just like an airplane, a bus has multiple emergency exits. Make note of the closest exit and proceed there with your buddy. For a visual of common emergency exits, view the image below. Let's review the most common emergency exits on a bus.
- Main Door Exit - If you are closest to the main entry/exit door of the bus, proceed there. If the door is closed, reach above the door to engage the emergency release and push open the door.
- Emergency Window Exits - If you are closest to one of the emergency window exits, proceed there. Lift up on the red latch and push the window open to exit.
- Roof Emergency Exits - In the event of a rollover, the emergency window and main door exits may be inaccessible. In this situation, access the roof emergency exits. Approach the exit, turn the red latch, and push hard. The exit hatch will be ejected from the bus roof allowing passengers to exit.
- Rear Door Exit - If you are closest to the rear door emergency exit, proceed there. Lift up on the red bar and push the door open. Once open, sit and slide out the exit.
- Driver's Window Exit - If you are close to the front of the bus, but cannot exit from the main door exit, slide the driver's window open, and exit the bus from there.
- Assist others - If you are first out of any of the exits, assist others in exiting the bus from your exit point. If you are not first out of the bus, upon exiting assist those that may need help clearing the accident scene.
NOTE: Teachers: Establish a safety zone a safe distance from the bus and make sure all students arrive at the safety zone. It is recommended that you appoint class leaders to help make sure the students are where they are supposed to be while you are assisting others. - Call for help - Once you are a safe distance away from the bus, contact Emergency Medical Service by dialing 9-1-1.
- Roll Call - Once all have exited the bus, teachers should perform a roll call to determine that all children are accounted for. If anyone is missing, the teacher should visually scan the area for students but not leave the group. If children are located on the ground (in the case of being ejected from the bus), the teacher should not move the child, but wait for Emergency Medical personnel to assess the situation.
- Wait for assistance - After all children have been accounted for, Emergency Medical Services has been contacted, have students sit a safe distance way and wait for help. It's at this time that teachers will need to contact the school and inform administrators of the situation.
Emergency Exits
Video
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Copyright @ 2018 Robert Kennedy
Copyright @ 2018 Robert Kennedy