Practice, practice, practice

Harriman — Harriman Engine Company #1 and the Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps conducted a joint drill last Saturday, Nov. 5, using an old donated school bus to practice extricating patients. The drill simulated an accident requiring firefighters and ambulance corps volunteers to remove patients from the front and rear of the bus. Firefighters also had to cut through the sides of the vehicle when that was determined to be the most practical way to get the injured out of the bus. About 25 firefighters and ambulance volunteers participated, giving each group a chance to work together and to become familiar with the other’s techniques. The drill also is important because Harriman Engine Company #1 and the Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps would be among the first group of agencies to be call should there be an accident involving a Monroe-Woodbury school bus. According to information from the district’s Web site, it’s transportation department transports about 8,000 students each day to and from school; in a year, that means M-W buses will travel more than 2 million miles (or roughly 400 road trips between New York and California). Following the extrication exercise, the bus was set ablaze so the Harriman firefighters could practice because the characteristics of small school bus fire are different than regular car, owing to such factors as size, type of fuel and fuel capacity.