INJURED MOTHER TRANSFERRED TO BE NEAR KIDS

An injured Oran woman was first taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital and then transferred to St. Francis Medical Center late Wednesday night to be near her injured children.

Lisa Scherer, 34, of Oran was the driver of a minivan that collided with an Oran School District bus on Scott County Road 264 just off Missouri Highway 77 between Chaffee and Oran. The accident occurred about 4 p.m.

Smoke from a grass fire may have contributed to the accident.

The bus driver, Sara Duzman, 45, of Oran and the seven or eight children on the bus weren't injured.

The accident injured Scherer and her children -- Kaylin Glastetter, 2, Hunter Glastetter, 10, Hailey Glastetter, 6, and Kelsey Glastetter, 8.

St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau treated and released Hunter and Kaylin Glastetter.

Scherer and Hailey and Kelsey Glastetter were admitted. They were reported in good condition Thursday at St. Francis Medical Center.

Ambulances from North Scott County and South Scott County ambulance services transferred the children to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau.

The mother initially was taken to Southeast Missouri Hospital.

St. Francis Medical Center spokesperson Kim Groves said a paramedic at the scene of the accident decided to take Scherer to Southeast.

Larry Chasteen, director of the North Scott County Ambulance Service, said Scherer indicated at the accident scene that she wanted her children taken to St. Francis hospital.

Chasteen said his ambulance service took Scherer to Southeast Missouri Hospital after a paramedic assessed her medical condition.

"We take patients to specific hospitals when the patients require specific needs," he said.

North Scott County Ambulance Service considers both Cape Girardeau hospitals to be equally close in terms of distance.

"They are just seconds apart as far as we are concerned," he said.

Typically, the ambulance crews consult the patients or their families. They also follow guidelines established by the hospitals, Chasteen said.

St. Francis Medical Center's Groves said it isn't unusual for a paramedic to send a non-critical patient to one hospital to avoid overburdening another hospital's emergency room staff.

Groves said the mother wasn't in critical condition.

School buses were back on the streets in Oran Thursday.

Superintendent Tom Anderson said, "We are back to normal as much as possible."

Anderson said the district rolled out its spare bus to replace the damaged bus.

The school district contracts with Seyer Transportation of Oran for three buses.

The district owns a spare bus and a vocational school bus.

"We bus probably close to 140 to 150 kids," said Anderson.

The regular buses haul both elementary and high school students. The bulk of the bus riders are elementary school students, he said.

Anderson said the students who were riding the bus involved in the accident are all fine.

He said this is the first bus accident he has dealt with in his 30 years in education.

"It kind of gets your attention," he said.

Said Anderson, "We are just very fortunate that everyone is doing well."