TOPSHAM, Maine (AP) Students steered a Maine school bus to safety on Monday after the vehicle’s driver suffered a fatal medical event.
The interim superintendent of Maine School Administrative District 75 said driver Arthur McDougall, 77, of Lisbon was transported to a hospital on Monday morning and died. The bus was carrying 14 middle and high school students when McDougall collapsed at the wheel, Topsham police told the Portland Press Herald.
Two students helped steer the bus to the side of the road and applied brakes as another student tried to administer first aid, the Press Herald reported.
The bus went off the road and came to a stop on an embankment. A student then called 911 for help while others got off the bus and flagged down traffic, the Press Herald reported.
Topsham Police Chief Marc Hagan said the department “would like to thank, and recognize, all of those who took deliberate action to save lives.” Local emergency responders took over the scene when they arrived, Hagan said.
No students were injured. Another bus arrived and took them to school.
