Cohen, Chaminade run mass shooting drill

Rebecca Klar
Cohen Children's Medical Center and Chaminade High School led a mock shooter drill on Wednesday. (Photo courtesy of Northwell Health)

Less than a week after a shooting at Santa Fe High School in Houston killed eight students and two teachers, the Cohen Children’s Medical Center and Chaminade High School led a mock shooter drill.

“The importance of this day is to ensure that we’re doing everything possible to keep our students as safe as possible while they’re in our building,” Thomas Dillon, director of student activity at Chaminade, said in a Northwell release. “We can’t go a week without a tragedy of this type happening, so this is an important step in the overall safety of our students.”

The Houston shooting was not an anomaly.

There have been 22 school shootings so far this year – about one per week, according to Northwell Health.

“We are doing this drill today to be prepared for the possibility of an active shooter or mass casualty situation at our hospital,” Dr. Jose Prince, director of trauma surgery at Cohen, said in the release. “We have to be sure that we have the resources and logistics in place to treat as many patients as we can in the most efficient ways possible.”

At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, buses and ambulances carrying 15 students in various levels of fake physical and psychological distress arrived at the Pediatric Emergency Room.

The drill followed the typical, necessary steps that would follow a disaster situation, according to the release.

Evaluations included triage, family reunification and admitting procedures.

Several of the students were wielding pre-made rubber wounds to their heads, arms and chests.

Anthony Avarello, 14, had a mock chest wound and was listed in critical condition in the drill.

“I’m glad to do whatever I can to help my school,” Avarello said in the release. “It makes us all feel a bit more comfortable to know that our school and the hospital are on top of the situation.”

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