Surrounded by several fire and rescue trucks, a group of firefighters knelt atop an overturned school bus, working tirelessly to cut through the rigid window frames and free any students that could be trapped inside.
A few yards away, another group of rescue workers took turns handling a special saw designed to cut through the top of a bus flipped on its side, hoping they could make it through within the brief window of time allotted for young victims.
Fortunately, there were no students trapped in these buses. The wrecked buses found in an open field off N.C. 772 in Stokes County last month were staged there for rescue exercises.
About 50 firefighters, rescue squad members and other emergency management personnel took part in an all-day training session Jan. 24 to learn the latest school bus extraction techniques. The group spent several hours in classes during the morning, before traveling to the drill site that afternoon to put their training into practice.
Billy Leach, the developer and senior presenter of Big Rig Rescue from Asheboro, was the primary instructor for the training sessions. A nationally recognized authority in rescue techniques, Leach has taught classes at the Fire House Expo National Convention, English Fire Brigade, and for the New York and Los Angeles fire departments.
“School buses are radically different in construction materials and design than any other vehicles on the road,” Leach said. “Because of that, the techniques and, in some instances, the tools used for extraction are different as well.”
The purpose of the classes was to acquaint first responders with those differences so they would be able to manage an accident involving a bus. Rockingham County Fire Marshal Robert Cardwell said that knowledge could prove invaluable in such a situation.
“These buses are designed to withstand the impact of a collision and protect the students inside,” Cardwell said. “But that means the construction can also make it more difficult for rescue personnel to get to anyone inside. That’s what makes sessions like this so valuable to anyone that could be on the scene of such an accident.”
Cardwell said he was there as a student – no different than a new member of a rescue squad.
“I’ve been doing this for 34 years, but I’ve never been involved with an extraction on a school bus,” he said. “I’ve been on the scene of accidents involving buses through the years, but never one that involved this kind of rescue effort.”
But with thousands of students traveling Rockingham County roads every day in buses, Cardwell said it’s important for as many first responders as possible around the county to know what to do if one of those accidents does reach a critical stage.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for us to learn how to do it right and train to do it quickly,” he said. “Time takes on a new urgency when you’re dealing with children.”
The accepted philosophy when dealing with adult trauma victims is to get them into an operating room within one hour of the accident.
“We call that the Golden Hour,” said Leach. “You have basically 60 minutes to extract, treat and transport the victim to a trauma center.”
That goal changes drastically when the victims are children.
“With children that becomes the Platinum Half-Hour philosophy,” Leach said. “A child can lose 25 percent of their blood volume and not show any external signs. Their heads are larger proportionally to their body and that allows for more serious injuries and a higher chance of choking.”
Knowing the physical and medical urgency attached to accidents involving children was only a small part of the scenarios playing out among the four practice buses. The rescue personnel were also becoming familiar with new extraction techniques and tools.
“We’ve got a number of different vendors here providing new tools for rescue work,” said Rusty Gray, chief of Madison-Rockingham Rescue Squad. “It’s really important for us to be familiar with what’s available and know how to use it when seconds count.”
The buses were placed in different attitudes for the practical exercises. Although one was turned on its side and one on the top, two buses were left upright. One of those was staged with a wrecked car pinned against the front door of the bus.
“Because of the rigid construction of buses, the driver is usually more likely to be trapped or pinned in than passengers,” Gray said.
Another reason for the different positions of the buses was to give the emergency workers experience in quickly stabilizing a bus.
“In any situation, you want to make sure that bus is not going to move when you start the extraction process,” Leach said. “The first thing you have to do is stabilize the vehicle, then you can start working the rescue operation.”
Students earning that extra bit of knowledge and experience in school bus extraction included firefighters from the Madison, Mayodan and Shiloh stations in Rockingham County; Southeast Fire Department in Guilford County; Caswell and Stokes counties. Rescue personnel attended from Madison-Rockingham, Eden and Reidsville squads.
There was even one student attending from South Carolina.
“I’ve been to several classes taught by Billy Leach and I’ve learned so much from him,” said. Chris Lamb, a veteran firefighter from Cowpens, S.C. “It’s been several years since I’ve taken this bus class and I thought it was time I caught up on some of the new techniques and learned about the new bus designs. When I heard about this one, I just had to come up for it.”
Leach obviously recognized Lamb from previous classes. After dividing the class into small groups for practical exercises, Leach told each group to select a leader that would wear a red ribbon attached to his helmet for identification.
Leach walked by the group where Lamb was added to the trio of firefighters from Southeast Guilford as they were debating who would lead the exercise. Without any discussion, he handed Lamb the ribbon and said, “Here, you’re the leader.”
“I guess when the head guy says you’re it, you’re it,” Lamb said.
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