Instead of waiting for a real-life emergency with injuries to children, the Texarkana, Ark., firemen used a bus donated by the school district to learn how buses are constructed.
The bus was no longer used to transport students.
The idea to use a school bus in extrication training developed while firefighters were inspecting buses.
"We were inspecting and they were showing us the buses with wheelchair ramps when we thought it would be nice to have a school bus to cut up. It's hard to get a $60,000 vehicle to tear up. It's hard to get new cars to practice extrication. You can get plenty of 1976 cars or 'land yachts' to practice," said Ginger Lee, training chief.
Tuesday was the first time to offer the extrication exercise using a school bus on the parking lot of Razorback Stadium.
The school bus was turned over on the passenger side on the parking lot and the vents on the roof were used to cut openings allowing firefighters to enter the bus.
Hand tools were used to break through the metal roof and then a reciprocating saw was used to cut a larger hole.
"School buses are very well-built. They're sturdy and we found out it was more efficient to use hand tools to open the roof and then use the power tools," said Battalion Chief Rick Pavick.
"We needed this to learn how to extricate quickly," he said.
Pavick said nationally each year about 20,000 bus accidents occur involving charter buses and school buses.
After the firefighters practice cutting holes in the top of the bus, a school district back hoe was used to turn the bus upright on its wheels. The firefighters then used extrication power tools to cut the frames of the front windows and then seat frames.
"We found out the seat frames are made of solid steel," said Lee. She said the firefighters used "spreaders" to pop open the seats at the bottom which was faster than cutting through the steel.
"If we have a school bus accident, our resources will be taxed quickly. We would have personnel assigned to stop a potential fuel leak and another to standby with a fire hose in case of a fire. We would have one group extricating people," said Pavick.
"We would have another group assessing the injuries. The first thing we would say would be to ask the children who can get up to then walk out of the bus. Then we would separate the minor injuries and determine the more serious injuries," said Pavick.
The firefighters are also EMTs or paramedics and currently nine firefighters are enrolled in EMT classes.
The firefighters used the 185-pound "Rescue Randy," which serves as a body. The firefighters immobilized the neck of Rescue Randy and placed him on a backboard inside the bus. Firefighters then slid the backboard down the length of the bus and out the back door. In another exercise the 185-pound dummy is handed out through a window.
After the two-hour session, the school bus is returned to the school district. Lee said the district will probably get $800 for the bus as scrap metal.
Lee said the cut-up bus educated the firefighters and the knowledge from the training some day may be priceless.
