12-Year-Old Heroes and the Douglass, Kansas School Bus Water Rescue [October 31, 2013]

On Thursday afternoon, October 31, 2013, a school bus carrying 10 students home from a Douglass, Kansas, school was washed into a fast-moving creek after heavy rains caused the bridge to be covered with water. The bus landed in the creek on its side. The 64-year-old school bus driver was pinned in the bus.

The students, ages 6 to 12, crawled out of the windows and waited on the overturned bus for rescuers to arrive. Emergency personnel were unable to use boats to rescue the children and driver because of the fast currents and had to use a line to reach the children and pull them to safety. The accident happened about 4 pm and students remained stranded on the bus for over two hours before being rescued.

"I really give all the credit to the kids that were on the bus that took the time to help each other." Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet stated, according to KAKE News.

"A lot of kids were screaming and crying," said Logan Parker, a sixth-grader who was on the bus. "Since I was the oldest, I was helping everybody else, so I was the last one (student) out of the bus."

"Logan Parker was one of the oldest students on the Douglass school bus that overturned into a Butler County creek Thursday afternoon.

He and the other students his age helped younger students get out of the partially flooded bus. Parker knew he had to remain calm because that is one of the many lessons he has learned as a Boy Scout about helping others.

"Since I was the oldest, I was helping everybody else and me and a bunch of others were the last ones out of the bus," he said after being taken to safety. "So we all got out safely."

Logan's grandmother, Dana Walker, was quick to attribute his action to emergency preparedness and first aid training he has received through Boy Scouts.

Logan Parker
with his grandmother Dana Walker

"I'm glad that he had that so that he would keep his wits about him and be able to help everyone," Walker said.

Mario Perez, Field Services Director for the Boy Scouts of America's Quivira Council, said Parker completed three years of emergency preparedness as a Cub Scout and camped at the Quivira Scout Ranch as a scout for the first time this summer.

"He earned his Tenderfoot Badge there," Perez said. "And part of the requirements for that Tenderfoot Badge have a lot to do with emergency preparedness and first aid-type activities."
Events like Thursday's bus accident, car accidents, natural disasters or household accidents are why Scouting focuses so heavily on emergency preparedness, Perez said.

"Most Scouts do learn how to stay calm, how to think straight and how to really behave in a way that makes it less dangerous for the person that's in harm's way," he said.
Such lessons can be taught at home, too.

Josh Barker, another of the sixth grade students on the bus who helped younger students get to safety, said his mom has always told him it is important to be prepared for any emergency and, when you find yourself in one, to remain calm.

"First reaction: Don't just go all scared about it," Barker said. "Just handle the situation like it should be handled." [as reported on KaKe.com, November 1 and November 2, 2013]

Wrapped in a blanket and shivering, Heather Rotramel’s 12-year-old son, Corey Gustafson, told of how he and another student pried open an emergency hatch so he and the younger children could escape.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/10/31/3089766/school-bus-in-butler-county-creek.html#storylink=cpy