Oceanside CA – Preparing public school bus drivers to deal with potentially life-threatening and violent situations was the focus of a training session for OUSD transportation staff members today at South Oceanside Elementary School.
Drivers were provided guidelines and instructional strategies for situations dealing with active shooters, suspicious packages or bomb threats, and the threat of hostages being taken. The session helped educate drivers on recognizing aggressive body language, detecting hidden weapons and learning and mastering tactical driving maneuvers.
“Violence has become so commonplace in our society and we felt we wanted our drivers in Oceanside to have access to the type of training that may one day help save a life and/or prevent a tragedy involving the children we serve,” said Tracy Mangold, OUSD driver and instructor who has served the district for 20 years.
The morning session consisted of classroom instruction and table top exercises designed to present a multitude of potentially troublesome or violent situations a bus driver might face. The drivers then engaged in hands-on demonstrations utilizing OUSD buses, on the streets around South Oceanside Elementary School, as part of the exercises.
As many as 50 Oceanside drivers participated in the one-day training course.
Oceanside Unified School District (OUSD) provides transportation for special needs students and district activities and field trips.
Tuesday’s session was led by ApexSCF, an organization with more than 140 years combined experience dedicated to preventing, teaching and/or responding to violent incidents that affect communities and children. For more information, visit the ApexSCF website [Link]