Reno, NV July,2010
Lessons to Learn When Evacuating Students with Disabilities and Head Start Children
Evacuating a school bus is something no driver ever looks forward to but needs to be prepared for if the need arises. Monday, July 26th at the STN conference in Reno, NV, delegates were offered a first-hand look at what it is really like to deal with such an emergency.
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| Charlie Kennington opens the session with 247Security's DVRViewer in the background. |
One Hundred and seventy delegates watched as a live evacuation was carried out. The session, hosted by Charley Kennington of Innovative Transportation Solutions and led by Denny Couglin, an industry expert in dealing with smoke and fire offered a sobering view of how smoke makes evacuation difficult when every second counts. The general rule of thumb is that you have two minutes to evacuate a bus. Add the complexity of small children in restraints with students in wheelchairs and SMOKE and you have the scene set for the demonstration that ensued.
Two buses, equipped with 247Security video systems were filled with smoke and volunteers demonstrated the challenge of taking students off a bus safety under very stressful and life threatening conditions. The video cameras showed the audience just how difficult it is to see in a smoke filled environment. Using 247Security’s proprietary infrared cameras, while visibility was reduced to near zero, the audience could see the activity inside the bus as students were ‘cut’ out of harnesses and carried from wheel chairs to safety a distance from the bus.
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| 247Security video system cuts through the smoke to give audience a view of the evacuation. |
Denny Coglin who has many years of experience training school bus drivers, attendants and firemen how to deal with smoke and fire on a bus, provided some very enlightening facts about the influence of smoke and fire on an accident scene. Coglin talked about smoke as the real enemy and the realities of the need to move fast knowing that smoke will overcome a healthy person within seconds.
247Security’s Director of Engineering Rick Oram oversaw the setup of the video network used for the demonstration. Using 247’s newest wireless network, he was able to provide a real time view of the demonstration, inside and outside the bus. Rick stated, ‘This was a great place for us to show how our wireless system works. I was excited to see how our cameras performed with the introduction of smoke and very pleased with the outcome. Being able to capture video inside the bus wirelessly is something our customers have wanted for some time and today we got a chance to provide them a first- hand look at what we can do.’
247Security wants to thank all who participated in the event, particularly Charley Kennington, Denny Coughlin, Cheryl Wolf, Susan Hunt and Jean Zimmerman.
