image via – youtube.com
Many people really underestimate how difficult being a bus driver really is. They think they do the same route everyday, run on autopilot pick people up, then drop them off and call it a day. But this really couldn’t be further from the truth. If you have ever sat down and spoke to a bus driver about their job they will tell you there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.
First of all, buses for the most part are some of the biggest vehicles on the road and they are much more difficult to maneuver than smaller cars. Second, when the bus is full there are many distractions that can pop up out of no where that the bus driver has to deal with as they happen. Unruly loud obnoxious passengers, people fighting, children misbehaving and screaming all are happening simultaneously as the bus driver does their route and is expected to do it flawlessly keeping everyone safe.
A lot of people really don’t even give a second thought to their bus driver once they climb up those steps and enter the bus. We pretty much just expect to get to our destination, with 0 complications and put a huge amount of trust into a person that we tend to not think twice about. Any veteran bus driver will tell you, that anything can happen at any moment without warning and you have to stay completely vigilant, calm and not let these abrupt distractions put any of the passengers safety at risk.
With this being said this brings us to today’s heroic story about a bus driver who found herself in an emergency situation and she had to act fast before a tragedy occurred. This particular bus driver was an older woman who drove a school bus for a living. She was on her normal school route as the bus began to fill with more and more school children.
As you know, if you ever took the bus as a kid, that things can get pretty rowdy and out of control on the bus. The bus driver has to constantly try to keep the peace, while driving the bus steady and getting to the final destination without any major issues. This one particular day seemed pretty normal, the kids were a little more amped up than usual but it wasn’t too bad. She kept looking back in her rearview mirror every minute or so just to make sure all the passengers were fine.
All of sudden she heard a strange sound coming from behind her, she looked back and one of the kids pointed and screamed he’s choking! For about 2 seconds she had froze not knowing exactly what to do. Luckily her gut instincts kicked in really fast, instead of panicking and completely freaking out, she pulled the bus over as quick as she could, stayed calm cool and collected as she ran towards the young boy who was choking. All the kids on the bus watched in terror as it all unfolded before their eyes! She got behind the boy, remembered her CPR training and immediately began to give the 5 year old boy the Heimlich Maneuver.
The entire horrifying scene was caught on the school buses video camera. Watch the video below to see it all play out in real time:
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