bus drill/ walk thru
 
By Member Jack Casey
May 18, 2018
 

On Wednesday evening, the members of the Mahopac Falls Fire Dept. & EMS had "one of their own" conduct an informative walk through on school buses. Thanks to the Mahopac Central School District/ Transportation for providing a Handicapped 7 passenger van and a 66 passenger bus for our instructional purposes. John Mulvaney, a senior Firefighter and a bus driver for Mahopac Transportation, along with Bill Owsiany took the members through the logistics of the handicapped wheelchair lift and the intricacies of the seat belts on children using wheelchairs. Quick and safe evacuation using roof ladders, by making a ramp for a wheelchair was a "game changer" for a lot of new members. With the big bus, it was shown that a patient on a back board would have to be lifted above the seats and with the removal of the windshield, be handed out over the hood. There are 10 escape hatches, doors and windows on buses in our district and one recent innovation is that emergency windows are hinged on the side, where in years past, firefighters had to hold windows open with pike poles, because it was hinged on top.