Off-duty EMT helped kids after Northwest ISD bus flipped over

Students on the Northwest ISD school bus that crashed on Tuesday were helped by an EMT just moments after the accident. She was just two cars away.

Amanda Turner says she watched this bus filled with children from Justin Elementary School flip over in Denton County.

After the bus flipped, its engine was still on and the tires were still spinning Turner got out of her car. She ran to the bus to help.

Northwest ISD confirmed all of the kids who were taken to the hospital after the crash were home on Wednesday. The district is thanking all of the first responders.

Turner was two cars behind the Northwest ISD bus when it suddenly rolled over along FM 407 in Denton County.

"The school bus was still on. It was still running. The wheels were still turning,” she recalled. “So I told her please turn off the engine.”

Turner is an EMT who is studying to become a paramedic. She quickly jumped into action.

"I heard the kids screaming in there,” she recalled. “That automatically put my attention to them."

Turner says the 18 students on the bus began pouring out of the back door.

“Everybody's crying. Upset. Scrapes, cuts, and bruises everywhere,” she said.

Seven of the Justin Elementary School students were taken to nearby hospitals with minor injuries. DPS says the front tires of the bus went off the road and the bus flipped when the driver overcorrected.

Turner says when she saw the bus flip over, she thought the injuries would have been a lot worse.

“I was very, very grateful that it wasn't anything worse. I was glad it was just a couple of cuts on the hands and legs. I was more than happy to put a Band-Aid on a small child and say, ‘You're going to be okay,’” Turner recalled. “It's built in me. My grandma was a nurse. So I'm here kind of following in her footsteps."

In a letter to parents, the Northwest ISD superintendent also remarked about the severity of the crash and how blessed they feel that the outcome wasn't worse.