Southside ISD students take part in mock natural disaster

Drill part of three-day training involving police cadets, premed students

SAN ANTONIO – A group of student volunteers from the Southside Independent School District spent Thursday at school. 

But instead of hitting the books, the 17 volunteers were learning how to save lives.

The students went through a natural disaster simulation and learned how to respond and help their classmates if a tornado hit their school.

KSAT 12 News reporter Max Massey asked one of the students what he thought about the drill.

"It was hectic, a lot of chaos. But you know, even though it's chaotic, we still have to maintain the order in there," said 15-year-old Juan Medina, a student.
 
Medina said he never had any sort of training like this, but he wants to be prepared just in case a natural disaster strikes.
 
"You want to help people out, but if you show a little bit of fear, then how you can help someone out? You got to be able to be brave to help." Medina said.
 
When asked what were some concepts he didn't expect during the training, Medina replied, "Teamwork, communication is really important in there. They have to be able to talk out loud to your people." 
 
Through the training, teamwork was apparent when working together to help victims stay safe and keep people organized.

"I personally haven't encountered anything like this, so that's why it's an experience," Medina said.

Do you think you're ready if a disaster like this strikes?

"You have you still go do it, no matter what. Who else is here to help?" asked Medina.
 
This may be Medina's first sort of emergency response training but it seems like it's not going to be his last.
 
"I want to be an officer. I want to go to Austin to be an officer there and then from there go to DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)," he said.
 


About the Author:

Max Massey is the GMSA weekend anchor and a general assignments reporter. Max has been live at some of the biggest national stories out of Texas in recent years, including the Sutherland Springs shooting, Hurricane Harvey and the manhunt for the Austin bomber. Outside of work, Max follows politics and sports, especially Penn State, his alma mater.