PRE-SERVICEOPTIONAL UNIT 12

TRANSPORTING

PRESCHOOL STUDENTS

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.W

PRESCHOOLERS ARE…

• Extremely unpredictable• Nappers – check carefully• Can’t gauge traffic safety• Bring an activity bag• Play games, radio, sing• Energizing, hilarious, exasperating• Let them be helpers , Teach them

bus safety – they want to learn!• Restraints keep them in their

seats!*Pre-Service Course Slide 12.1.1,2

Optional Unit 12.1:Understanding the Preschool Child

Bet you can’t catch me!

TEACH THEM WELLGET THEM READY

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.1.3

Optional Unit 12.1:Understanding the Pre-School Child

• All children under 4 must ride in an appropriate child safety restraint system (CSRS)

• In a school van or car, children under 8 must ride in a CSRS

• Make sure:– Height and weight match

CSRS– No recalls– No damage to seat– Seat fits in bus*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.2.1

Optional Unit 12.2:Restraints for Pre-SchoolChildren on School Buses

LEGALREQUIREMENTS

• Rear-facing infant seats – Stay rear-facing as

long as seat allows• Forward-facing

restraints• Secured with:

– Seat belt– LATCH*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.2.2a

Optional Unit 12.2:Restraints for Pre-SchoolChildren on School Buses

TYPES OFRESTRAINTS

Integrated safety seats

Booster seats with built-in harness

Safety vests*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.2.2b

Optional Unit 12.2:Restraints for Pre-SchoolChildren on School Buses TYPES OF

RESTRAINTS cont.

• Keep children toward the front• Never place in emergency exit row• No unrestrained passenger behind

safety vest or booster seats• Read the instructions! Route lap

belt per manufacturer’s instructions• Kneel on seat when tightening• Twist it up to 3 times – No knots*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.2.3

Optional Unit 12.2:Restraints for Pre-SchoolChildren on School Buses

PLACEMENT OFRESTRAINTS

• Forward facing - Upper straps in reinforced slots at or above shoulders

• Rear-facing – in slots at or below shoulders• Retaining clip at armpit level• Straps snug, Pinch Test• Touch briefly and sensitively• Clean with mild detergent• Check retirement date• Discard from serious accident• Discard with cracks or visible damage*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.2.4,-6

Optional Unit 12.2:Restraints for Pre-SchoolChildren on School Buses

SECURINGRESTRAINTS

• Preschoolers are hard to see• They are naturally impulsive• Have a hard time with bus

steps • Release to approved adult

– If no one’s home, keep the child on board

– Reassure the child that everything’s OK

– Contact base for guidance*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.3.1,2

Optional Unit 12.3:Loading & Unloading Pre-School Children

BUS STOP and CUSTODY CONCERNS

• Bus fires and preschoolers are very frightening

• Buses can burn quickly in some situations

• An evacuation plan should be created for :– An front engine-

generated fire– A crash-generated fire at

the rear*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.1,2

Optional Unit 12.4:Evacuation Concerns EVACUATION

PLANNING

PRESCHOOLEVACUATION QUESTIONS

• Define driver and attendant roles• Children evacuated in or

out of the restraints?• Unbuckle the child or

cut the straps? • Order to evacuate children?• Avoid exit bottleneck• What exit(s) will you use?

Can you find exits in thick smoke?

• Keep children from wandering*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.3

Optional Unit 12.4:Evacuation Concerns

USE A BUDDY SYSTEM

• Teach young children to look out for each other

• Teach them to use a buddy system or “safety chain”

• Practice it at school in am

• Use the fire blanket as a reference point

• Use bystanders*Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.4

Optional Unit 12.4:Evacuation Concerns

EVACUATION PLANNINGPRACTICE

• Draw seating plan of a current bus showing each child

• With your trainer, decide on a realistic evacuation plan for both scenarios

• Use the Evacuation Plan form in your manual to write down your plan*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.5

Optional Unit 12.4:Evacuation Concerns

SEAT BELTCUTTERS

• It may be faster to cut harness straps

• Cut at an angle across a tight belt

• Should be located where you can reach it while seat-belted

• Practice cutting old belts with a seat belt cutter*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.6

Optional Unit 12.4:Evacuation Concerns

CUT

OPTIONAL UNIT 12 REVIEW

1. T or F? “The vision and hearing of preschoolers is so good they can usually get out of the way of an approaching car”

2. T or F? “Children under five need to be escorted on and off the bus”

3. What type of booster seat may be used on a school bus?

4. T or F? “Sit unrestrained passengers behind children in safety vests”

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.Ra

5. Where should the harness retaining clip be located?

6. If you need to shorten the lap belt slightly to secure a car seat, what’s the acceptable method?

7. T or F? “On forward-facing car seats, the upper harness slots should be below the child’s shoulders”*

OPTIONAL UNIT 12 REVIEW cont.

8. T or F? “If no one is home at a preschooler’s house, tell the child to wait on the porch until someone gets home”

9. What’s a seat belt “stalk”?

10. T or F? “In most cases, the quickest way to get a child out of the bus in an emergency is to remove the child from the restraint”*

Pre-Service Course Slide 12.Rb