UVic says it has fulfilled recommendations from report on fatal Bamfield bus crash

UVic says it has fulfilled recommendations from report on fatal Bamfield bus crash
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Eighteen-year-old first-year UVic ustudents Emma Machado and John Geerdes died and many other students were hurt in the Sept. 2019 crash.

The University of Victoria says it has now fulfilled all the recommendations of an independent report commissioned after a bus crash killed two students on a university-approved field trip to a research station near Bamfield, B.C.

In all, the report contained 43 recommendations covering everything from pre-trip requirements and appropriate transportation and travel on the gravel road leading to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, to emergency response protocols and supports for students and families.

A statement from the university says it is continually improving its student travel and crisis response processes.

On the evening of Sept. 13, 2019, a chartered bus was carrying 45 UVic students and two teaching assistants for the course, who were acting as chaperones, on a first-year biology field trip to the research and teaching centre.

UVic says the bus was mid-way from Port Alberni to Bamfield when it moved closer to the side of the gravel logging road as a vehicle approached from the opposite direction at a point where the road narrows. The bus tipped off the side of the road, slid on its side down an incline and onto its roof.

Emergency responders attended and the students were transported to Port Alberni and Duncan for treatment.

Eighteen-year-old first-year UVic ustudents Emma Machado and John Geerdes died and many other students were hurt.

Among the recommendations in the report were changes to incident-response decision making, development of an emergency response procedure for off-campus incidents, further coordination of student service supports on a case-management system, and operational guidelines for the level, volume and complexity of resources to respond to incidents of this scale in the immediate aftermath and for months afterward.

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