High School Emergency Response Club Holds Disaster Drill

The mock earthquake struck Thomas Jefferson High School at 8:43 in the morning, trapping 42 students in classrooms.

But student response teams from the Federal Way-area high school came to the rescue as part of the drill last week. Wearing white hard hats and orange vests, they carried the student victims out of the classrooms on backboards. Other student teams took the victims to a medical treatment area on the football field.

The school's Student Emergency Response Club sponsored the ninth annual mass-casualty emergency drill. Emergency response coordinator Monica Watchie headed the drill, which included students from her emergency response and health careers classes and 150 staff members. In all, about 300 students took part in the 70-minute drill. The entire 2,000-student school was evacuated.

The students did a great job of moving and treating the victims of the 7.2-magnitude quake, made up to have broken bones, lacerations and other injuries, Watchie said.

"We can always do better," Watchie said. The response club will try again next year, when the group stages another earthquake.

Steve Maynard, The News Tribune

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.