As Snohomish County volunteers aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina, some area teachers are training the next generation of relief and rescue workers.
Kevin Nortz / The Herald
At Valley View Middle School near Snohomish on Wednesday, students in a special disaster response class helped with the first earthquake drill of the year – one of the more likely disasters for this region.
Wearing blue hard hats and orange reflective vests, the more than two dozen eighth-graders assisted teachers, checked off buildings on a map for “damage” and looked into a classroom for injured “victims.”
“I hadn’t realized how much of a responsibility it would be,” said Brianna Stonecipher, 13.
Teacher Tom Ryan has offered the Student Emergency Response Team, or SERT, class since 2002, after starting in 2000 with a voluntary group as an after-school activity. The class is open to eighth-graders. This year, 150 students signed up for classes of about 30 each.
Besides being trained in how to help adults during school emergencies, the students become certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They learn search-and-rescue tactics such as cribbing – lifting very heavy objects with a lever – as well as radio etiquette and triage, or who gets helped first.
It’s essentially a kids’ version of adult programs. But that doesn’t mean they’re doing kid stuff.
In a real disaster, when the American Red Cross sets up stations at their schools, they could be integral. And in a school emergency, when adults are stretched, they could be invaluable.
“There’s an adult in every kid, and when there’s an emergency they really rise to the situation,” said Jean Kennedy-Huber, a librarian who works with the students during their drills.
Marysville Middle School has a SERT club led by teacher Kathleen Shafer that has met after school for the past 10 years.
The club, which starts next week, typically draws about a dozen students, and in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks drew twice that number.
“With Katrina … I think people will be even more interested in what we can do to be prepared,” she said.
Marcus Haughian, 12, a Marysville seventh-grader, took part in the club last year and said news images of Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath prompted him to brush up on his skills.
“When I first found out about Katrina, I thought if I was there, I probably could be helping. I practiced more. I, like, got stuffed animals and practiced how to do CPR and first aid, and bandaged them up and stuff,” Marcus said.
Classmate Austin Phillips, 12, said the club has given him and his friends a new outlook.
“I used to not think a lot about safety, but now it comes out more,” Austin said. “If anything does happen, I know how to use it. But I don’t want anything to happen.”
Back at Valley View Middle School, 13-year-old Josh Grout said he joined the SERT class because he wanted to learn the important skills his father knows as a firefighter.
Hearing about Hurricane Katrina confirmed that goal.
“You know that big disasters are out there and happen,” Josh said. “So it’s better to be prepared.”
Reporter Melissa Slager: 425-339-3465 or mslager@ heraldnet.com.
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