Month: March 2020

How to Fit In Wheelchairs Safely On a School Bus?

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

Transporting students with special needs is always a concern and priority for educational institutions. School buses are considered the safest means to transport students to and from school.

That is the reason why parents heavily depend on school buses for the transportation of their kids.

Having said this, schools now have an added responsibility of transporting those in wheelchairs. Handling the same is not so easy and even a minor error can make things worse.

It is unfair to deny permission for students to access school bus just because they are in wheelchairs.

Keeping this in mind, most or all of the school buses are designed in such a way as to accommodate wheelchair-bound students safely.

A lot of things need to be in consideration from securing the wheelchair properly, giving proper training to bus drivers and staff on proper loading and unloading of students in a wheelchair to safety measures to secure them in case of a bus crash.

How to Secure the Wheelchair Properly?

FMVSS 222 securement system is recommended to assure safe transportation in the school buses for students in wheelchairs.

A 7-point system can serve the purpose when the 4 points are designed to secure the wheelchair and 3 points to protect the student.

It is important to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for your system as well as the specific wheelchair in use. Having a look on the following mandatory checklist helps you not to miss out on any possible errors.

  • Make sure that the wheelchair is forward-facing and is centered on the anchorage, properly anchored at 4 points
  • Double-check to confirm if the straps are attached properly at an angle of around 45 degree
  • See that the straps are not twisted and are away from sharp corners or edges. The straps are not advisable to be attached to any detachable part of the wheelchair or on the wheels. Also, see that you don’t twist or crisscross the straps.
  • The three-point shoulder, four-point wheelchair tie-down, and the pelvic restraint system have to be in the right position while some buses even attach the tie-down straps to a frame for extra safety.
  • The shoulder belt has to be strictly attached to the bus only and the lap belt can either be attached to a vehicle or to the wheelchair 4-point system.
  • Before starting off the bus, ensure if the power is off and brakes are set and there is no reverse or forward movement
  • Never ever keep a wheelchair near an emergency exit door despite the actual position of the wheelchair securement.
  • The occupant restraint system can either be attached to the wheelchair itself or to the wheelchair securement system or the school bus anchorage points.

Loading and Unloading

Before you load the students, there should be a proper seating plan and loading order.

It is important to consider their medical conditions, evacuation challenges, and compatibility of students.

Also Read: 24 Cool School Bus Games 2020

Drivers or personals in charge of loading and unloading process will have to overcome many challenges including novel and diverse wheelchair designs, broken or missing wheelchair equipment, technical hitches with lifts or problems with frightened kids.

Here are a Few Important Considerations to be made While Loading and Unloading Students in Wheelchairs.

  • Mostly, drivers will be responsible for the entire process which consumes a lot of time and doing it alone comes with possible risks, as well. That is why experts suggest that a 2-person team is always the best option. Enough support can be given to the driver by a parent, a bus aide, a teacher or even a classroom aide but an untrained person should not be operating the lift.
  • Fasten the seat belt of wheelchair around the kid, give support onto the lift and see that they always face away from the vehicle, the brakes of the wheelchair are locked, and the roll stops are in “up’ position.
  • Once the platform reaches the floor level, safely release the wheelchair brakes and slide them into the bus and fold it to the travel position.
  • Before this procedure, they should make sure that his/her wheelchair is in proper working condition. It is good to have a person in the team with knowledge in doing minor repairs or consider option to loan equipment at times of emergencies.
  • More importantly, it is important to treat those students with sensitivity and in no way hurt their emotions and make them comfortable.
  • When handling chairs with trays, it is important to remove it to help avoid injuries in case of a crash but always consult the student before doing so.
  • Wheelchair securement points should be good enough to handle the device without fail like on the nearest seat level, frame or at a welded joint and never ever locate these points on the removable part of the wheelchair.
  • The lap part of the occupant restraining system is supposed to be placed over the pelvis to help the students to escape with minimum injury in case of a crash.
  • The components of WTORS may look similar even if they are from different manufacturers but it is not advisable to use it together which may cause serious security problems.
  • Always allow postural supports for students in wheelchairs, especially when they are comfortable with the same.

It is advised to encourage the use of WC19 wheelchairs because it is crash tested and provides the utmost safety during transportation.

Drivers will have enough confidence while handling students with these wheelchairs as it comes with enough safety standards.

However, this doesn’t mean that transportation can be denied to students without a WC19 wheelchair.

Schools have to take initiative to make sure that the drivers and related personals are given proper training when handling wheelchair-bound students in the bus.

Written and video instructions are provided by manufacturers for their specific products and the proper understanding of these instructions is essential to assure safety.

Moreover, the drivers should have a proper and safe stopping plan for the school bus.

They must plan well in advance to stop the bus in a convenient place so that the wheelchair lift can be operated properly.

Top 10 Efficient School Bus Evacuation Drills 

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

Students should know how to evacuate a school bus during an emergency, for accidents can happen at any time. Look at these school bus evacuation drills to make them ready.

When we send kids to school, they are left unattended. One such area is a school bus, where they have to be on their own if an emergency occurs while they are on the bus, need to be prepared to exit the buses safely.

For that reason, practicing safety drills for safe evacuation from school buses is an important activity.

Students need to know how to respond at the time of crisis. So we need to prepare them in advance with safety drills. Here are some tips that you can follow to prepare the students for an emergency. It will help them respond quickly.

1) Let them know what kind of situation they might face

Many of us underestimate kids’ wisdom and don’t share vital information with them. It is a big mistake, and no one should do that.

Let them know about the type of situations and accidents they might face when they are on the bus. It will help them paint a picture of the situation in their mind and stay prepared in advance.

Different types of accidents bring different evacuation challenges, and they need to act accordingly.

As an example, if the school bus collides with other cars, then the evacuation challenge will be different from the school bus fire.

Similarly, if the bus falls in a water body, then the evacuation challenge will be different from others. Every student must know what type of problems they might face in an accident and stay mentally prepared for it. It will help them react quickly, and their survival chances in an accident will increase subsequently.

2) Emergency exit

According to the law, every school bus must have multiple emergency exit points, which students can use in case of an emergency.

Generally, every school bus has one emergency exit in the back and one additional exit on the side of the bus.

These exit points should be marked, and students must be aware of this. They should also know how to open these exit points on their own.

In most school buses, the exit points remain temporarily locked for daily operation. A liver mechanism maintains this temporary locking of the exit point.

Students need to pull or slide the lever to open these exit points. Locking those exit points permanently is against the law, and the bus will be considered unfit for student carriage.

Operating any vehicle for student carriage without proper emergency exit is against the law.

If the law enforcement agency found any such vehicle on the road, then they can take appropriate action against the school administration.

3) Safe Exit from the Vehicle

The most common scenario, when the students may have to leave the vehicle, if the bus stopped functioning for any reason, and stopped on a busy road.

It may have been a common scenario that many students may have to face in real life.

In such a situation, all students may have to exit from the vehicle in a composed manner.

Unnecessary shouting may spread confusion and fear. Small students may get traumatized by this. The students have to evacuate the bus from such direction, where traffic is not coming.

Otherwise, oncoming vehicles may collide with the students and cause fatal injuries to them.

After coming out of the bus, all students must remain in one place away from the traffic. The senior students must assist the driver in keeping every student in a safe location.

They must strictly impose discipline and maintain a line for this purpose.

4) Safe Exit after a Vehicle Collision

Another most common incident that happens on the road is a vehicle collision, where a school bus may collide with another vehicle.

This type of accident is not that rare; every year, hundreds of these types of happening on our road. The school must teach the students how to deal with this type of accident.

To protect the students from such an accident, the school needs to ensure that every student must wear a seatbelt when riding the school bus.

The student must know how to open the seatbelt quickly. If any seatbelt gets stuck by the collision force, then the driver needs to use the seatbelt cutter to relieve the student.

If the driver gets injured in this accident, then the senior students need to take charge of the evacuation process, and they need to bring everyone down from the vehicle in a disciplined manner.

5) Safe Exit from a Vehicle Fire 

School bus fires can be a very dangerous type of accident. In the past, such accidents have taken the lives of many children.

Not only collision-related accidents can cause vehicle fires. Other minor issues like leakage in the fuel line or faulty electric may cause a vehicle fire.

For this reason, NHTSA has mandated fire extinguishers on every school bus.

The fire extinguishers must be in working condition, so they can be used when needed. The school authority or the school bus driver should check this device regularly and ensure its functional condition.

In the case of a small vehicle fire, it is the first line of defense. With the help of this device, a school bus driver can quickly put off small vehicles on fire.

The first sign of vehicle fire is smoke. If any student notices any smoke, then he should inform the bus driver immediately. Vehicle fire spread very quickly.

Within a couple of minutes, it can engulf the bus. In case of a fire, the driver must prioritize evacuation of the vehicle. Only after evacuating every student from the bus he can extinguish the fire.

The school bus driver and senior students riding the bus must know how to use fire extinguishers.

6) Safe exit from the water

Many times after the accident, a vehicle can get into a waterbody near the road. This type of accident can be fatal for students who don’t know swimming. The water gushes in the vehicle very quickly and drowns it within a couple of minutes.

If a bus goes into a water body, then the front portion of the bus drown first by the weight of the engine. It lifts the back portion of the bus. The driver needs to open the back door immediately and evacuate all students from the back of the bus.

The driver may need to take help from senior students who can swim and evacuate the bus as quickly as possible. Many school practices this school bus evacuation drills regularly. Regular exercise of this drill can save many lives on the road.

7) Use of First aid kit

According to the law, every school bus must have a first aid kit. It is the first line of defense.

A first aid kit can give temporary relief from the burn, cut, sprains, and strains. The kit generally includes sterile gauze pads, bandages, anesthetic lotion, wrapping gauze, sterile gloves, scissors, tweezers, safety pins, etc.

These items can be beneficial in treating the wound until medical services arrive at the situation.

The student and the driver must know how to use these items and give first-aid properly.

They must be trained to stop bleeding, apply a bandage on the wound, and perform CPR on a person. These activities can save a life in the real world.

8) Drivers Responsibility

Most of the time, the school bus driver is the only adult who operates the vehicle and stays with the students.

Thus, he is responsible for the students by law. His conduct should prioritize student’s safety all the time. The driver should never be intoxicated while operating the vehicle.

He should not be in improper health conditions. He should never be on any medication that reduces mental focus and degrade driving ability.

With any degraded health condition, the driver should stop driving immediately and seek help from other drivers or school authorities.

In case of an accident, if the driver remains harmless, then he is responsible for the safe evacuation of the students.

In such a case, he needs to organize the evacuation process and oversight of the process.

He also needs to put the students in a safe environment until help arrived from the emergency services.

He also needs to establish communication with the emergency service department and seek medical attention from them.

For this purpose, the driver can use a cell phone or two-way radio. Only after arrival and operation of the emergency services, the driver can take relief.

9) Schools Responsibility

The school authority needs to play an active role in ensuring the safety of the students.

They need to conduct school bus evacuation drills with the students and deliver valuable information on this subject.

Also Read: 30 Essential Road Safety Rules in India

They also need to take multiple precautions in advance. Here are some steps they need to take.

  •  Appointment of a professional driver: The school authority needs to appoint a licensed driver for regular student transportation purposes. The driver must have a valid license for operating such vehicles. In some states, the driver must have prior experience of operating heavy vehicles before becoming a school bus driver. The law also mandates the driver must not have any criminal record, and the driver needs to be in the proper physical and mental condition during operation. The driver must not consume any alcohol or narcotics a couple of hours before driving.
  • Supply of operational vehicle: Many schools own their bus fleet, and some schools hire bus fleet from other companies. In both cases, the school authority needs to analyze the drivable condition of the vehicle. The school bus must be fit for the road journey, and it should follow the mandated guidelines of NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The school authority and the bus company will be liable if these guidelines are not appropriately maintained.
  • Supply of safety equipment: Every school bus must be equipped with proper safety equipment. Generally, the safety equipment includes a first aid kit, a fire extinguisher, a seatbelt cutter, and a two-way radio for communication. It is the duty of the school authority and the bus companies to provide this safety equipment to every school bus. So they can be used to rescue students in an accident.
  • Conduct evacuation drills regularly: Many states have mandated the school bus evacuation drill daily. For this reason, most schools need to conduct this drill once or twice a year. This drill gives the students real-life experience of facing a dangerous situation on the road and prepare them for the future.

10) The Assistance of Senior Students

The senior students play a pivotal role in the school bus evacuation drills.

The school needs to prepare these students to assist the driver in the evacuation process.

These seniors students also need to help the driver maintaining discipline among fellow students.

If in an accident, if the driver gets injured, then the senior students need to take charge and rescue everyone on the bus properly.

They must be taught how to use the first aid kit properly so that they can assist in an emergency.

Many schools also teach these students the utilization of different safety equipment like seat belt cutter and fire extinguisher.

So they can rescue other students and put off the fire in the vehicle. In many rural areas, the cell phone doesn’t work, and people still use a two-way radio.

In such places, the student needs to learn how to operate the two-way radio properly, so they can build communication with others and seek help for an emergency.

Conclusion

School bus evacuation drills can be very educational for the students.

In this exercise, they learn about the dangers around them. They also learn how to keep their composure in an emergency and respond according to the situation.

This process makes them a better person and saves lives in an accident or emergency