SIMULATED CRASH

Area first-responders practice for worst-case scenario

POTTSTOWN » Area firefighters got some handson training recently that instructors hope will serve them well in emergency situations.

Pottstown-area firefighters recently attended a “Bus Crash Extrication” class at the Sanatoga Fire Company where instructor Richard Bossert from the Philadelphia Fire Department and Bucks County Community College Fire School and other trainers taught the class for volunteer and career first-responders.

The class included a large group from Pottstown’s Goodwill Fire and Rescue, Station 69.

Firefighters were taught how to cut apart buses, stabilize and rescue any injured at the scene. The scenario for the class involved a simulated crash on Route 422 where a car hit the Jersey barrier, flew over it and into a bus that was traveling in the opposite direction. The car crashed entirely inside the bus, then the bus overturned on a second car. Rescuing and treating the injured were a paramount part of the training.

“You need to be prepared, this could happen any place, any time,” said Bossert, citing the recent terrorist attack in New York City that involved a school bus getting hit and trapping four persons inside. “If you don’t train on cutting buses apart and you are faced with this scenario, it becomes a really complicated issue.”

While typical training courses involve simulated automobile crashes, this specialized course offered first responders the chance to work with a more unique scenario by using a bus.

TOM KELLY III — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA First-responders took part in a bus extrication simulation as part of a training held at Sanatoga Fire Company. Firefighters were taught how to cut apart buses, stabilize and rescue any injured at the scene.

TOM KELLY III — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA First responders got hands-on experience dealing with extrication and treatment of drivers and passengers involved in a bus crash.