UPDATE WEDNESDAY MORNING
A spokeswoman for Strong Memorial Hospital says two children from Tuesday’s bus crash remain hospitalized in satisfactory condition. There is no update on the adult who is being treated for injuries.
UPDATE 3PM
The collision between two buses at around 7 a.m. Tuesday has left a driver dead, identified as Edwin Rivera Dejesus who had been driving with the company since 2010.
Another eight children and one adult were injured.
The accident occurred in the 800 block of Hudson Avenue near Avenue D.
General Manager David Bonacci says DeJesus had been through all of the required physical exams and despite there being no evidence of a preexisting condition, he assumes the crash was the result of a medical incident.
The bus appears to have hit a tree with such an impact that Bonacci says he believes the bus was accelerating before the crash, but he's waiting on confirmation from the Rochester Police Department.
"They're going to conduct all of the necessary tests to determine how fast the bus was going. Again, we believe it was a medical issue and we believe that somehow the bus accelerated. I mean, why? I'm going to leave that up to the experts."
Bonacci recalls DeJesus as a great employee, a responsible driver, and someone who was good with the children.
"Never had a complaint. Everybody wanted Edwin -- great guy."
UPDATE 2PM
· 1 adult – still in ED being evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries
· 2 children – still in ED being evaluated, all being evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries
· 6 children – discharged to home
UPDATE 12:00 pm
Four of the children admitted to Strong Memorial Hospital this morning have been discharged to their homes, according to a hospital spokesperson. The remaining four students and one adult are still being evaluated for the extent of their injuries.
Dr. Michael Kamali of Emergency Medicine says most injuries were orthopedic, not life threatening, and that all of the patients were talking upon arrival to the hospital.
Kamali says the emergency response procedures for these types of incidents are swift and all-encompassing. Even before he knew the extent of the children's injuries, his team was fully mobilized:
"The hospital initiated a disaster response, which activates folks all throughout the institution, and allocates a lot of resources available for our patients within the institution."
Kamali says while the patients are all doing well, he had concerns about their emotional stability.
"Having to take an ambulance ride to the hospital when you're anticipating going to school is certainly traumatic, and stressful. The children were obviously stressed. We had a lot of resources with our social workers there working to calm the children. And then once parents got here as well just trying to get the parents to the bedside of their children helps tremendously."
Three students in the other bus involved in the crash were taken to school without apparent injuries.
UPDATE 11:00 am STATEMENT FROM ROCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT
Eight children from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School No. 9 were aboard the bus at the time of the accident. All were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital—six as a precautionary measure and two for injuries that do not appear to be life-threatening. Three of the students had been discharged as of 10:00 am. A Monroe Transportation bus monitor was also taken to Strong for non-life-threating injuries. The District notified all parents of students on the bus and provided transportation to the hospital for those who needed it. Principal Sharon Jackson has sent two school administrators to the hospital to support students and families there. She has also notified all school families via recorded phone call. There were three students from Henry Lomb School No. 20 aboard the First Student bus that was struck in the accident. The parents of these students were notified, and the children were taken to school with no apparent injuries.
STATEMENT FROM OFFICE OF THE CHIEF, ROCHESTER POLICE DEPARTMENT
During the investigation, Officers learned that a Monroe Transportation school bus driver was traveling southbound on Hudson Avenue (with eight students onboard). The Monroe Transportation school bus driver sideswiped another school bus (First Student Transportation) that was northbound at Hudson Avenue and Avenue D (with three students onboard). After the Monroe Transportation school bus driver sideswiped the First Student school bus, the Monroe Transportation school bus struck a tree. The Monroe Transportation school bus driver is deceased. Please defer with the school bus companies for drivers’ names and ages. The circumstances which led to the accident are still under investigation.
UPDATE 10:40 am
Michael Kamali, M.D., chair of Emergency Medicine at UR Medicine’s Strong Memorial Hospital held a media briefing and said that none of the injuries were life threatening. They expect to be able to discharge about half of the children by the end of the day.
No further information was released about the circumstances of the fatality.
At the press conference, Strong Hospital went into a lot of detail about the preparations and procedures that are in place in the event of these kinds of accidents.
The Democrat and Chronicle newspaper - quoting David Bonacchi, vice president of Monroe Transportation Services - says that a medical issue such as a heart attack may have been a factor in the accident.
