Benito Cantu, from Ray High School in Corpus Christi, advises the team in his role as incident commander. Texas School Safety Center photos
Texas youth hone disaster skills at Preparedness Camp
The Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) at Texas State University partnered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to host the Texas Youth Preparedness Camp last week.
The Texas Youth Preparedness Camp is designed to increase emergency preparedness in Texas communities by providing youth with emergency response, action planning and leadership skills that enhance their capacity to assist local communities in creating a culture of preparedness. This year’s camp brought in representatives from six different states including Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Washington as well as five teams from across Texas.
Youth Mentor Isaac Serrano receives treatment in the medical triage area.
The camp is designed and delivered using a youth-led, adult assisted process that allows students to be the decision makers with adults acting in a supportive role. Throughout the week, students and their sponsors received the full 20-hour Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) basic training, developed a community action plan and acquired the leadership skills to address emergency preparedness when they return home by implementing their action plan.
To learn more about TxSSC and the Texas Youth Preparedness Camp, visit the website.
