How To Fight Germs on Your School Buses
published on February 17, 2023 by Sonia Mastros
school bus management, bus route optimization, school bus routing software, school bus safety, school bus safety tips, covid-19, school bus driver shortages, school bus cleaning, inefficient routes, outdated routes, inaccurate routes, route efficiency, state reporting, re-routing, bus shortages
In the years of the coronavirus, RSV, strep and the flu - and with most researchers suggesting these will continue to be a threat in the upcoming years - school bus safety measures now largely revolve around finding ways to prevent spread of the diseases going around our schools. Most schools are doing this with traditional disinfecting products like sanitary wipes and sprays, but this is a slow and time-consuming process that can still miss a lot of contaminated areas.
However, as understanding of the viruses has evolved, we've been seeing more products being made that can help prevent the spread of covid along with other bacteria's and health concerns. Here are a few that seem like they could be worth the investment, in terms of preventing disease spread with a minimum of effort.
Products That Help Ensure School Bus Safety
1 - Sprayers
Spraying an entire bus with disinfecting agents can be a quick and easy way of sanitizing the bus quickly, while hitting most or all major touch points. A couple products stand out here.
The FS100 Portable Sprayer from Akron Brass Co. is compact and battery operated, with three different spray heads. It's suitable for use on buses, as well as in classrooms, and almost anything else.
For a more high-tech approach, there's the electrostatic disinfectant system from EZ DISSAN. These utilize special disinfectant sprays which contain a high number of positively-charged particles. This causes the spray to stick to surfaces more effectively - like static cling - and bring higher levels of sanitation.
2 - Foggers
Another product boasting extremely high levels of effectiveness is the CURIS Decontamination System, which uses a hydrogen peroxide blend to create a fog which envelops an entire room or school bus. These can be remotely operated and monitored, making it a nearly hands-free process.
CURIS claims their product has a 99.9999% viral extermination rate, and it's used by businesses around the world to sanitize areas.
3 - Ultra-violet lights
The COVID-19 virus has been shown to be extremely vulnerable to UV light, such as sunlight. So for a dry solution to inhibiting viral spread, the VeoLite from Aveo Engineering might be what you need. It's basically just a strip of high-powered UV lights that are mounted to the top of each bus, and can be set to turn on automatically once the bus has been emptied and parked.
These lights are too powerful to use while people are on the bus, be could be an excellent passive way of preventing disease spread between runs.
Maintaining school bus safety is going to be very difficult in the months, maybe years, ahead. Has your district found any disinfectant products that work especially well?
Let everyone else know in the comments below!