For immediate release:
Hibbing Fire/EMS and Hibbing Police Department responded to a report of a school bus versus vehicle at 7:50 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, at the intersection of Hwy 5 and Townline Rd. in Hibbing. The crash caused the bus to roll onto its side.
At the time of the incident, a driver and 20 students were on the bus heading northbound on Hwy. 5 to Cherry School in Cherry. A witness to the crash reported the incident, stating that students were crawling out of the bus on their own.
Hibbing Fire/EMS responded with four ambulances and three fire trucks and requested mutual aid assistance from the neighboring towns of Chisholm, Buhl, Eveleth and Virginia. Also on scene were St. Louis County Sheriff’s, Minnesota State Patrol, Cherry Fire/First Responders, and several first-responders.
“Based on the potential volume of injuries, a mass casualty system was implemented to ensure we had a sufficient response,” said Chief Erik Jankila. “That resulted in having more ambulances than patients on scene.”
Upon arrival, Hibbing EMS crews found the vehicle with significant damage to its passenger compartment. The driver of the solely occupied vehicle required extrication and was airlifted to Essentia Health Virginia via LifeLink III for life-threatening injuries.
All passengers of the bus were able to exit the bus on their own and were triaged and cared for in order of severity of injuries on scene. Law enforcement assisted in helping to count and confirm all students.
A total of 11 parties – 1 adult and 10 students -- were transported by ambulance with non-life threatening injuries to Fairview Range in Hibbing or Essentia Health Virginia. All were transported within less than an hour of the crash.
A second air medical unit was staged at Range Regional Airport in case additional air transport was required. Jankila noted the responders did triple redundancy with school officials to ensure full accountability for students on the bus.
“The collaboration between fire/EMS and law enforcement on this incident was truly very good,” said Jankila. “All involved did a great job.”
All public safety agencies involved would like to thank the passersby who stopped and assisted on scene with the students, as well as Shubat Transportation Co. for being ready to assist with transporting uninjured students.