An Unusual Event

I sat in my office, monitoring the radio, when I heard a driver of one of my special needs buses call out, "Bus ## to base, I have a dog onboard."

I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee, but I perked right up.  "Bus ##, this is Base.  Come Back?"

"Boss, I got a dog on my bus, and he's getting vicious!"

Well, now he had my attention.  I asked for his location, and then called the Sheriff's Department with the information.

"Bus ##, law enforcement is on the way!"

"Thanks boss, tell 'em to hurry!"  I could hear barking in the background.

All I could do was wait to see what came across the radio.  I'm used to doing, so this was hard for me.

"Boss, where's law enforcement?"  It had been a few minutes, but we are a rural community, so all I could tell him was, "I can't make them go any faster.  Just hang in there!"

The next comment made my day, "They better hurry.  He's in the driver's seat, and he won't let me get back on it!"

I couldn't help it.  I clamped my hand to my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.  The lead mechanic, who had been listening, pitched in and closed out the broadcast as I gathered myself together.  The mental image of the dog being in the driver's seat was too funny.

Later, after I had settled down and the driver had returned, I pulled the hard drive from the bus camera system and watched the drama unfold.  It wasn't nearly as funny watching it on video.  The dog in question was a 60lbs pitbull/bulldog mix.  It looked like he got on the bus, got scared, and wasn't about to leave the area under the steering wheel.  He bit the owner's girlfriend, disregarded the owner, ignored the cop's laser light, the dog treats and his favorite bouncy ball.  Three cops, one fire truck, one EMT vehicle, and one Animal Control Officer later, he was finally pulled off the bus.  He was taken away because he was not up on his shots.

After watching the video, I began asking myself questions.  How could this have been prevented?  Was our response as good as it could have been?  How do we prepare bus drivers for such situations?

My job, as a leader, is to provide my drivers with numerous scenarios so they have a diverse base of experience with which to pull from in a crisis.  This got reinforced with a phone call with Mike Dorn.  So, I will turn this into a teaching moment.

And, have a little fun with the dog in the driver's seat.