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Questions Raised About Training of Driver, Aide After Death of Special-Needs Student

The Florida driver and aide say they were unable to help a student who had a seizure and later died because they had no CPR training. The district says they had a recent refresher course.

March 28, 2018
1 min to read


BARTOW, Fla. — Questions have been raised about the training of a school bus driver and aide here after a special-needs student had a seizure and stopped breathing on the bus and died several days later.

At about 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 28, a school bus driver contacted police about a medical issue on the bus, according to WFTS. Bus surveillance video shows a 14-year-old girl having a silent seizure, which lasted almost three minutes, FOX 13 reports. When the bus aide noticed, she rushed over to the student and the driver pulled the bus over. They called dispatch and 911, but neither the aide or driver knew what to do to help the student, according to FOX 13.

Nearly 20 minutes after the girl’s seizure started, emergency responders arrived, gave her CPR, and took her to the hospital. She was then transferred to a children’s hospital, where she eventually died, FOX 13 reports. It is unclear whether anything could have been done to save the girl's life, according to the news source

The bus driver, aide, and their supervisor told investigators that they were not trained in CPR, but a spokesperson for Polk County School District said that they had received basic CPR training and went through a refresher course in January, according to FOX 13.

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