Portland Students Prep For Emergencies In Annual Disaster Academy

From Portland Public Schools:

On Thursday, students throughout Portland Public Schools practiced what to do in an earthquake as part of the Great Shakeout. At Benson Polytechnic High School, a select group of students not only took part in the Shakeout, they also spent the day being trained in what to do in other emergency situations.

Benson held its annual Youth Disaster Academy on Thursday. About 85 students took part in the all-day event, which teaches emergency response and preparedness.

Working with visiting experts, students practiced basic first aid, CPR, stopping bleeding, fire suppression and trauma intervention, which teaches how to respond to mental health crises.

Students received instruction from members of the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management, Portland Fire and Rescue, the Trauma Intervention Program of Portland/Vancouver, and Randall Children’s Hospital.

• See a full set of photos from the Youth Disaster Academy
• See KPTV’s report on the Shakeout and Disaster Academy
• Read the Oregon Office of Emergency Management report

This press release was produced by Portland Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.