Just another school trip hazard

The following news release was published yesterday by Port Alberni RCMP
MISSING BUS & STUDENTS LOCATED - SAFE AND SOUND

2010-09-13 17:29 PDT
Shortly after 11:30 am today, RCMP in Port Alberni were advised of an overdue bus, with ten Edmonton students (grade 11 & 12), two teachers, and one driver, that failed to arrive at their destination. The group had departed Victoria, BC, destined for the Coast Guard Research Station in Bamfield, BC. They were expected by 10:00 pm last evening.
Upon receiving the report, Port Alberni RCMP, with the support the RCMP Air Services Helicopter based on Vancouver Island, and Search and Rescue crews from Port Alberni, Sooke, Lake Cowichan, and Nitinat, commenced a large scale ground and air search operation. This search, which began at approximately 12:30 pm, intensified throughout the day, until 4:30 pm. At 4:30 pm, a forestry worker located the bus and passengers, who had become stuck on a section of the Caycuse Mainline logging road. A piece of heavy equipment was used to assist the bus back on to the roadway. The bus and passengers are now driving on to the Research Station, as originally planned.

This area of Vancouver Island has limited cellular telephone coverage, making contact to and from the group difficult. The worker who located the group returned to an area with cellular coverage, and called the school and police to advise of the groups discovery.
The Port Alberni RCMP extend their appreciation to the search and rescue crews, local forestry workers, and others who assisted in this search.

For those of us more accustomed to arranging school trips in the UK, the prospect of a school bus going missing for up to 18 hours - even for 12 hours before the police are alerted - is beyond belief. Press reports suggest that the driver took a wrong turn and got lost in the rugged wilderness.
 
Much of inland Vancouver Island has little or no cellphone coverage - and if schools are arranging visits that will take them into remote areas, maybe they should ensure that the bus carries a GPS tracker?