What

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Whats In YOUR Emergency Plan?

• Presented to the Kansas State Pupil
  Transportation Associations Fall Workshop
• September 29, 2004
• Holiday Inn
• Manhattan, KS

By School Bus Safety Education Unit Kansas State
Department of Education Topeka, KS
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K.A.R. 91-38-9. EMERGENCY PROCEDURES. (a)  Each
governing body shall adopt procedures to be
followed by school transportation providers if
confronted with an emergency situation when on
the road.
What does this mean?
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Well, First of All. . . We Need an Understanding
of What All is Involved. Ingredients if you
will.
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Ingredients K.A.R. 91-38-9 1. Each governing
body 2. Shall Adopt Procedures 3. To Be
Followed 4. School Transportation Providers 5.
Confronted With an Emergency Situation 6.
When on the Road
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• K.A.R. 91-38-9
• Each governing body shall adopt procedures to be
  followed by school transportation providers if
  confronted with an emergency situation when on
  the road.
• Each Governing Body Means all 301 School
  Districts Boards of Education.

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Each governing body Shall Adopt Procedures to be
followed by school transportation providers if
confronted with an emergency situation when on
the road. Shall Adopt Procedures Means Must
Have in Play a Set of Rules/Regulations or
Methods of fulfilling a particular task . . . The
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW if you will.
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Each governing body shall adopt procedures To Be
Followed by school transportation providers if
confronted with an emergency situation when on
the road. To Be Followed Means to Obey, Pursue
or Adhere to.
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Each governing body shall adopt procedures to be
followed by School Transportation Providers if
confronted with an emergency situation when on
the road. School Transportation Providers
Means Either a School Bus Driver or a School
Passenger Vehicle Driver.
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 Each governing body shall adopt procedures to be
followed by school transportation providers if
Confronted With an Emergency Situation when on
the road. Confronted With an Emergency
Situation Means to Face or Oppose a Juncture or
Crisis in a Position, Plight, Circumstances or
Unusual Man-Made or Non-Man-Made
Predicament. Man-Made could be a Terrorists, a
Hi-Jacker or Bus-Napper. Non-Man-Made could be
encountering a Tornado, Flash Flood, Blizzard,
Dust Storm or Range Fire.
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Each governing body shall adopt procedures to be
followed by school transportation providers if
confronted with an emergency situation When on
the Road. When on the Road Means
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Do Your School Transportation Providers Know What
to do If and When Confronted With an Emergency
Situation? Scenario Its 340 p.m. Your
Buses Are Dropping Students Off. . . Suddenly
(350 p.m.), a Tornado, Rips Through Your
District. . . All Power Lines Are Down. . . The
Hardest Hit Area is Bus 13s Route. . . Do You
Know Exactly Where 13 Should Be at 350 p.m.?
Does the Driver of 13 Know Where to Take the
Students, i.e., Storm Shelter etcetc?
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As the Transportation Supervisor for Your
District, You Should Have Some Kind of Mapping
for Each Bus, Either a Hard Copy or an Electronic
One (remember, the Power Lines Are DOWN !). You
Should Feel Confident That EACH Driver Knows
Exactly Where to Take the Students. This Goes
for City Driving as Well as Rural Driving.
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Flooding and Flash Floods During extended times
of heavy rain or localized torrential downpours,
storm drains in cities and towns may not be able
to effectively handle overflow, causing local
flooding of streets. In some areas of Kansas, the
city streets were not designed to handle heavy
rains of rural areas. What are normally safe
"low-water crossings" or "spillways" can become
raging torrents in a matter of minutes.
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If you must drive during periods of flood
watches or warnings, it may become necessary for
you to alter your normal driving route. Never
attempt to drive through water over the roadway.
Depth of water and strength of current are not
always obvious.
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If your bus becomes stranded in an area prone to
flash flooding, evacuate as quickly and safely as
possible, and move your passengers and yourself
to higher ground. Flash flood waters can roll
boulders, tear out trees, and destroy buildings.
You may not always have a warning that these
deadly, sudden floods are approaching. Be
especially cautious driving in flood-prone areas
at night.
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Would Your School Transportation Providers
(Drivers) Know What To Do If They Encountered A
Tornado. . .? Do They Know Where the Farmers
Storm/Tornado Shelters Are? Or Perhaps Those
Shelters Inside the City Limits?
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What About Smoke From Range Fires?
                                                
                           ltgt
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Range Fires, or Range Burning, Occurs Typically
From About the First Week in April (SE KS)
Through the Last Week of May (NW KS).
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Does Your District Have a Plan For What a
Transportation Provider Should Do When They
Encounter a Typical Kansas Dust Storm?
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Sometimes We Dont Have Time to Think, What Do
I Do Now?. . . It Will Require Some Pre-Planning
and the I Know How to Do it Right the First Time
Attitude. Because. . . Things do happen FAST !
! ! !
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Some Emergency Situations Are MAN-MADE. . .
And
We Know the Procedures to Follow. But. . .
Each Given Situation is Different Than the
One Before.
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• Some Kansas Blizzards Leave Highways With Only
  One Lane to Drive On Drifts of Up to
  Twenty-Five Feet. Does Your Plan Explain What
  Your Driver is to Do if
• A Mechanical Break-Down Should Occur?
• The Road Becomes Re-Drifted Shut?
• A Medical Emergency Should Develop?
• Can They Re-Route the Trip?

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Are Your Drivers Familiar With Alternate Routes
and Even Better Yet . . . The Length of Their Bus?
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• Summary
• So Far Weve Talked About Situations a Kansas
  School Bus Driver MIGHT Encounter. . .
• Tornadoes
• Dust Storms
• Blizzards
• Flash Floods
• Range Fires

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• Add to Those the MAN-MADE Encounters. . .
• Bus-nappers
• Terrorists
• Bomb Threats
• Hi-Jackers
• Your Transporters Have Their Hands Full. . .