TACOMA, Wash. — A group of high school students are being recognized for their quick actions saving a bus driver who was experiencing a medical emergency in mid-December.
Just before 8 a.m. on Dec. 12, a school bus driver was driving students from Franklin Pierce and Washington high schools on 112th Street East in Puyallup, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.
The bus driver began experiencing medical emergency systems and called out for help on the PA system as he began to lose consciousness, the department said.
Several students jumped into action.
Two Washington High School students called 911 while a third student "selflessly left the safety of his seat, took hold of the steering wheel and pulled the emergency brake to bring the bus safely to a halt," the department said.
Another student used the bus radio system to contact the school district as a fifth student held the driver’s head and reassured him, according to the department.
Pierce County Sheriff's Department officials honored the students and their actions at a recent assembly.
The driver was taken to the hospital, according to the department, and is doing well "thanks to these young people who acted calmly and bravely during an emergency to save their bus driver and everyone else on the bus that day."
