Harford County school bus crash sends 18 students to Bel Air hospital

BALTIMORE -- Harford County's first responders helped multiple students get medical treatment after their school bus crashed in Edgewood, Maryland, on Wednesday.

Volunteer firefighters from the Abingdon Fire Company and an HCDES EMS unit from the Abingdon Station were sent to the site of the two-vehicle crash in the northbound lanes of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway near Maryland Route 24 around 3 p.m., according to the County Volunteer Fire/EMS Association.

Once there, they found a school bus with multiple injured children, 22 of whom were transported away from the crash site, fire officials said.

Multiple medics were summoned to assist with the transportation of 18 students to the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. EMS units from the Aberdeen Fire Department Main Station, Aberdeen Fire Department Perryman Station and Harford County Department of Emergency Services Hickory Station assisted with the transportation, according to fire officials.

Although some of the students suffered minor injuries, the majority of them were transported out of precaution, fire officials said.

By Wednesday evening, all of the students were discharged from the medical center or awaiting discharge, according to fire officials.

Some students were released to a parent or a guardian at the site of the crash. The remaining uninjured students were taken to the hospital to await the arrival of a parent or a guardian, fire officials said. 

Staff members at the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center worked with firefighters and medics to provide a reunification area inside the hospital, according to fire officials.