Summary

Every day first responders put their lives on the line to try to save their communities. They find themselves in all different types of situations, and Thursday, emergency personnel from 11 different agencies trained for an absolute worst-case scenario. The Metro Area Water Rescue Group simulated the response to a school bus filled with children plunging into a lake. They say the exercise is meant to provide important, hands-on training for rescue swimmers and boat operators. Overall the U.S. Department of Transportation says events like this are rare, but they do happen. They agencies most recent available statistics show that between 2004 and 2013 there were more than 1,200 school-transportation-related crashes nationwide. More than 1,300 people died in those crashes, an average of 134 deaths every year. "We train day in and day out for extrication, hazmat, fires, things like that," explained South Metro Fire Department Captain Adam Schewe. "This is an opportunity once a year for us to come out and train for something we don't often see, but is a high risk to our community and a high risk to our firefighters and EMS personnel." The annual training started after the 35W Bridge collapse in 2007. The group responds to a different simulated incident each year.

Source CONUS Archive
Record ID 349632
Story Slug FIRST RESPONDERS TRAIN FOR SCHOOL BUS ACCIDENT (2015)
Location ST. PAUL, MN
Format PKG/VO
Date 09/24/2015
Archive Time :00
TRT 14:32
Video Description PKG: RESCUERS GATHERED FOR TRAINING, DUMMIES USED IN TRAINING, AIR BOATS, DIVERS JUMPING INTO WATER, DUMMIES BEING RESCUED, VICTIMS PULLED FROM THE RIVER, BOATS ON WATER, SOT, FIREFIGHTERS, EMS WORKERS, GRAPHIC, TRAINING, I-35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE FILE, ADAM SCHEWE (SOUTH METRO FIRE DEPARTMENT), AIR BOAT ON RIVER, BOATS ON RIVER, RESCUED DUMMY VO: RESCUE PERSONNEL GATHERED FOR BRIEFING, PREPARING GEAR, RESCUE BOATS PULLED UP ON SHORE, CU ZODIAC BOAT, OTHER RESCUE BOATS, BOATS HEADING OUT FOR TRAINING EXERCISE, BOATS GATHERED ON LAKE, DIVERS IN WATER RECOVERING DUMMIES, MANNEQUIN ON SHORE, RESCUED DUMMIES CARRIED ON SHORE, CU DUMMIES, AIR BOAT, DUMMY BROUGHT TO SHORE, CARRIED ON FLAT BOARD, POV TRAVELING ALONG RIVER, DIVERS JUMPING INTO WATER, CU DIVERS IN WATER, MOCK VEHICLE PULLED INTO RESCUE BOAT,
Description Every day first responders put their lives on the line to try to save their communities. They find themselves in all different types of situations, and Thursday, emergency personnel from 11 different agencies trained for an absolute worst-case scenario. The Metro Area Water Rescue Group simulated the response to a school bus filled with children plunging into a lake. They say the exercise is meant to provide important, hands-on training for rescue swimmers and boat operators. Overall the U.S. Department of Transportation says events like this are rare, but they do happen. They agencies most recent available statistics show that between 2004 and 2013 there were more than 1,200 school-transportation-related crashes nationwide. More than 1,300 people died in those crashes, an average of 134 deaths every year. "We train day in and day out for extrication, hazmat, fires, things like that," explained South Metro Fire Department Captain Adam Schewe. "This is an opportunity once a year for us to come out and train for something we don't often see, but is a high risk to our community and a high risk to our firefighters and EMS personnel." The annual training started after the 35W Bridge collapse in 2007. The group responds to a different simulated incident each year.
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Keywords

AIRBOAT
}