Thursday’s horrific bus crash in Irving tested local first responders. By most witness accounts, they passed with flying colors.
More than a half dozen different agencies responded to the scene, from Irving, Grapevine, Grand Prairie, Dallas, Farmers Branch, DART, DFW Airport and Careflight.
Irving Fire Department’s Assistant Chief Rusty Wilson said the coordination started when paramedics arrived on the scene.
“One of the captains here called for 'all available ambulances in the city.’ That's how the call went out,” Wilson said. “We also are coordinating with the hospitals ahead of time knowing how many people they can take, so we're working all that through our dispatch."
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Wilson also said paramedics starting calling hospitals when they realized how many patients needed treatment.
Wilson added that the coordinated response went off well because of training and experience - most recently in 2009 when the Dallas Cowboy’s practice facility bubble collapsed.
“We never know what when we're coming to work what we're going to be facing. Today it was this. Tomorrow it may be something different,” Wilson said.
