Zone
Proper securement and training deliver a safer and more comfortable experience for students who have special needs
WRITTEN BY ERIC WOOLSON W
hen it comes to the do’s and don’ts of trans- porting children who have special needs, a cross section of fleet managers, researchers and safety experts said there is no substitute
for hands-on experience and regular training in the proper use of child safety restraint systems (CSRS). “Everybody wants to do the right thing for the kids. Some- times, they just don’t know what that is,” said Miriam Manary, senior research associate in the Biosciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Charley Kennington, a retired director of school bus trans-
portation with the Texas Department of Public Safety, said he believes a complacent mindset magnifies the challenge in some districts. “They spend a lot of time and effort training the teachers and making sure everything is right in the class- room. But in the school bus world, we often get overlooked. I think the attitude is, ‘We only have them on the bus 35 or 45 minutes, so it’s no big deal.’” Sue Shutrump, supervisor of occupational and physi-
Student transporters at Flagstaff Unified School District in Arizona load a student in a wheelchair onto the school bus. Student comfort ranks a close second to student safety, which makes training on wheelchair securement and child safety restraint systems paramount.
cal therapy for Trumbull County ESC in Ohio, teaches the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Child Passenger Safety on School Buses seminar that is taught at the TSD Conference and STN EXPO confer- ences. “People, over the years, have begun to understand that we really do need more standardized course work and train- ing on how to use child safety restraints on buses,” she added. Said Naomi Morrison, a special needs coordinator for the Flagstaff Unified School District in Arizona: “The thing that really struck me when I started as a trainer was that I thought people doing the training knew about special needs, but they really didn’t.” Kathy Anneken, vice president of sales at Cincinnati-based Easy Way Safety Services, said a common mistake made by student transporters is to assume that familiarity with one de- vice means understanding them all. “My advice is to read the instructions, do your best to repeat them and ask questions of your suppliers,” she said. “You’re not going to learn through osmosis. That’s why we’re here.” She points to differences in safety vests, which have
evolved to include models that are more difficult for a child to remove.
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