Kenai Peninsula Borough School District
Contact: Pegge Erkeneff, 907.714.8888
Media Release
KPBSD Ski Teams En Route Home
Soldotna, January 11, 2014—KPBSD confirms a charter bus departed Valdez at approximately 1:30 p.m., and is heading back to the Kenai Peninsula, driven by the owner of Unique Bus Charters. All students from the Kenai Central High School (KCHS) and Skyview High School ski teams who were evaluated at the Providence Valdez Medical Center are on board the bus. Additionally, one student was medevac’d to Anchorage, and has been released. Travel time is estimated to be ten to twelve hours.
Saturday morning KCHS head coach Brad Nyquist said, “We feel very fortunate about how everything turned out. The kids are doing great. At the incident site everyone responded so well taking action to care for each other and keeping composure. The Valdez community opened their arms, and made us feel welcome and safe. The medical responders took all precautions necessary. I had a team meeting Friday night, and the kids showed a good sense of humor. Everyone is very understanding.” Cellular coverage at the bus accident site on the Richardson Highway, mile 55, was difficult with very little coverage. Nyquist said, “I’m sorry it took so much time to contact parents, and apologize for the delays in communication.”
Kent Peterson, Skyview head coach said, “We were so fortunate. Adults—chaperones and coaches—immediately divided up duties at the accident site, and one of the first people to stop happened to be a woman who was an emergency responder! DOT and two Valdez police arrived shortly after. We worked in teams to take care of everything. The kids are all good, and when we first assessed everyone it appeared any injuries were minor. The emergency team checked them out at the site, and then again in Valdez another team checked everyone.” Several students did go to the hospital for further evaluation, and Peterson added, “Some kids thought they were checked out too thoroughly!”
We are awaiting word on the bus driver, and our care and concern extends to his family and medical team.
Due to the circumstances, the two KPBSD teams did not compete in the Valdez Invitational on Saturday. “I thank all of the staff from Valdez City Schools, the Valdez Emergency Services, Valdez Police, personnel at the Valdez Hospital, and the Alaska State Troopers for their immediate and professional response to today’s accident,” said Dr. Steve Atwater, superintendent. “The location of the accident made the response difficult, we are thankful that these agencies are so well trained. In addition, thank you to local families who volunteered to bring food to students, and open their homes to parents.”
Background
On Friday, January 10, 2014, while traveling to the Valdez Invitational, Kenai Central High School and Skyview High School cross-country ski teams were in a bus accident at 11:44 a.m., at mile 55 on the Richardson Highway. Valdez City Schools sent buses to transport students to the elementary school, where a medical triage team assembled to assess every student. Several students were subsequently transported to Providence Valdez Medical Center for further evaluation, and released. The bus driver and one student were medevac’d to Anchorage. The student has been released. Forty-nine people were on board the bus, in addition to the bus driver.
Link
Media release January 10, 2014: KPBSD ski teams in bus accident
###
This and all KPBSD media releases are online at this web page: http://bit.ly/MediaPublicRelationships
New: Suggest or contribute a story online link: http://bit.ly/SuggestKPBSDstory
Please contact me with questions or connections to be made for your KPBSD district and school stories.
Pegge Erkeneff | Communications Specialist