Limestone County Schools and Athens City Schools take a proactive approach to prevent school bus crashes like the one that recently rocked the city of Chattanooga.

The county’s first responders are doing the same because, as one emergency official explained, some things are a matter of when, not if.

Two weeks before the Chattanooga crash occurred, 11 firefighters from four different Limestone County fire departments participated in a 16-hour course on responding to a school bus crash with entrapped occupants.

Alabama Fire College Region 1 Coordinator and former Athens fire chief Danny Southard said he was impressed by the students’ eagerness to learn.

“Limestone County Association of Volunteer Firefighters has taken a very proactive approach to training within the last few years,” Southard told The News Courier on Friday. “We hope we can do more of this type of thing.”

The course details how a first responder should approach rescuing trapped students from an overturned school bus. Firefighters talk about everything from the different types of buses and various access points on the vehicle to controlling the scene of an accident.

“This is something we’ve been trying to do for years,” said Elkmont Fire Chief Michael Carter.

Though an important class, many cannot take the hands-on portion of the training because it’s extremely difficult to get a school bus to practice with.

Southard said this is mainly because school districts use public funds to buy buses and have to sell them through a public market when they retire vehicles out of the fleet. The cost to purchase an old bus is too expensive for responders to pay for training.

Limestone firefighters were “very fortunate” to secure an old bus from a Huntsville salvage company, Southard said, making the training session that much more productive. Limestone County Schools Transportation Director Rusty Bates also brought in one of the district’s newer buses for the class to examine.

Southard, who has worked for almost 40 years in the emergency response field in Limestone County, said he doesn’t remember a serious accident involving a school bus inside county or city limits, but said responders must always be prepared.

“It’s a big scene when something like that happens,” he said. “Given recent history, we see that it does happen … and it’s one of the most traumatic things you’ll ever feel.”

After the Chattanooga crash, more Limestone departments are expressing interest in holding another bus extrication class.

Carter said the association plans to do another class in the future, but focus more on the coursework aspect since it’s not likely they will be able to secure another practice bus.