Unfavourable weather conditions may adversely affect school transportation. Many cities in the U.S. witness the coldest weather in some of its seasons.
One of the greatest challenges school authorities and parents come across is transporting children safely in this weather condition without making them prone to frostbite or hypothermia.
Children if exposed to cold weathers can easily be victims to the dangerous effects of winter time.
It doesn’t take much time for children to be affected by hypothermia. It takes as little as half an hour to get a frostbite or hypothermia.
For instance children playing outside may be subject to a low temperature which in turn makes their body temperature low, which they might not notice.
Even though spring is within reach, the weather of winter can sometimes be dangerously low in temperature and puts children at the risk of over exposure.
There are certain precautions one needs to take when children are outside for playing or while going to the supermarket with you.
Proper Clothing
Children must be equipped with proper clothing during winter to avoid all kinds of mishaps that happen due to bad weather. They must be made to wear layers of clothing to keep them warm from adverse weather conditions.
You must ensure that they are dry and warm by dressing them up using boots, mittens and hat. It is advisable that you use two pairs of socks and boots that can resist the cold weather.
Children must be made to wear an extra layer of clothing more than an adult wears in the same condition. By allowing skin to skin contact mittens give more warmth than gloves does.
So always choose mittens to gloves. Cotton loses its insulation properties as it holds moisture which makes the child feel even colder. Cottons tends to hold moist air, sweat and snow.
It is better to use wool instead of cotton. Before making you cold and wet, wool suspends the moisture and can absorb one by third of its weight.
While they stay out longer than that is planned, it is always better to put hand or feet warmers in their bags. You must ensure to let them know that they can use in the event they have to spend time out in the cold.
Also make sure that they drink plenty of water and have substantial meals regularly so that they maintain optimal health and can help them survive the cold weather. Proper dressing and good food can help children to survive the cold weather.
This is essential to ensure the safety of your child during adverse weather conditions. Ensure that this is strictly followed to avoid frost bites or hypothermia.
Extra Caution
School buses tend to have more mechanical problems frequently during the winter season. Buses might cool off quickly and might have to make halts in between the journey.
The more the children are exposed to cold weather the more chances they are to get affected by the cold weather. Other than this winter riding can be dangerous for drivers, students and people on the road too.
As there is less traction on the roads, vehicles are prone to more accidents. One of the important things is to prepare drivers to ride on snow, fog, ice and hail. This includes classroom education and behind the wheels exercises.
As a matter of fact experienced drivers should be made to teach less experienced drivers about the skills that are required for driving in winter weather.
Driver can be given a demonstration of how Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) works and how safe it is to ride with one rather than riding without one.
The function of ABS in severe weather, air brake systems and braking techniques are to be given special attention. In some cases transport managers provide alternative routes as weather can be much unpredictable.
Winters may have pocket roads that may not be maintained well and also snow-covered roads, snow drifts, and many more obstacles like going uphill.
If the drivers think it is unsafe to continue, they must pull over and wait for a plow or sand truck. Driver’s need to make sure the bus is warm before they pick up students. Chemicals can be used to treat windows to avoid them from icing up or fogging. Additional fans can be used defrost the windshield apart from regular fans.
