Protecting children while they are in school is not only the job of people within the building.

All Lawrence County bus drivers recently completed active shooter and hostage training in conjunction with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and Ironton Police Department.

The intent of the joint effort was to give bus drivers an idea of how police would respond in the event of an emergency.

“We wanted to get it done before the start of the year,” Detective Joe Ross, of the IPD, said. “It’s important everyone knows what to do and how to act in case something like this happened.”

A school bus was used as the platform for three different scenarios and the Lawrence County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team acted out its response.

“We appreciate the Ironton Police Department and the sheriff’s office in helping bus drivers prepare for this,” Dean Nance, Ironton superintendent, said. “The better prepared everyone is the better a position we are all in to deal with an active shooter or hostage-type situation on a school bus.”

Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless said the training is essential to helping a school bus in duress.

“It’s a good learning experience and good practice,” he said. “Officers and bus drivers have to have some kind of idea and plan when dealing with certain situations and this is one of those situations.”