PRE-SERVICE
OPTIONAL UNIT 12
TRANSPORTING
PRESCHOOL STUDENTS
Pre-Service Course Slide 12.W
Optional Unit 12.1:
Understanding the
Preschool Child
PRESCHOOLERS ARE…
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Bet you
Extremely unpredictable
can’t catch
me!
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
TEACH THEM WELL
GET THEM READY
Pre-Service Course Slide 12.1.3
Optional Unit 12.2:
Restraints for Pre-School
Children on School Buses
LEGAL
REQUIREMENTS
• 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-School
Children on School Buses
TYPES OF
RESTRAINTS
• 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-School
Children on School Buses
TYPES OF
RESTRAINTS cont.
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-School
Children on School Buses
PLACEMENT OF
RESTRAINTS
• 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-School
Children on School Buses
SECURING
RESTRAINTS
• 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 12.3:
Loading & Unloading PreSchool Children
BUS STOP and
CUSTODY CONCERNS
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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 12.4:
Evacuation Concerns
EVACUATION
PLANNING
• Bus fires and preschoolers
are very frightening
• Buses can burn quickly in
some situations
• An evacuation plan should
be created for :
– An front enginegenerated fire
– A crash-generated fire at
the rear*
Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.1,2
Optional Unit 12.4:
Evacuation Concerns
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PRESCHOOL
EVACUATION 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 PLANNING
PRACTICE
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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
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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*
SEAT BELT
CUTTERS
Pre-Service Course Slide 12.4.6
OPTIONAL UNIT 12 REVIEW
1. T or F? “The vision and
5. Where should the
hearing of preschoolers is
harness retaining clip be
so good they can usually
located?
get out of the way of an
6. If you need to shorten
approaching car”
the lap belt slightly to
2. T or F? “Children under
secure a car seat, what’s
five need to be escorted on
the acceptable method?
and off the bus”
3. What type of booster seat 7. T or F? “On forwardmay be used on a school
facing car seats, the
bus?
upper harness slots
4. T or F? “Sit unrestrained
should be below the
passengers behind children
child’s shoulders”*
in safety vests”
Pre-Service Course Slide 12.Ra
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