By: Tanya Raghu
Staff Writer
@tanya_raghu

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail,”Coppell High School junior Ishan Goel, president and founder of Student Emergency Response Team (SERT).

As you walk into the SERT meeting, the dramatic music and touching video highlighted the mission of this club to bring active change into the community.

SERT was created this year to equip students with necessary training in case of emergency situations to make CHS and the community a safer place. The club sponsor is Mr. Gribble who is a Physics teacher at CHS.

“Our mission is to supply the community and school with reliable and medically trained members that are ready for any and all situations,” Goel said.

SERT had its first official meeting in the CHS lecture hall last Thursday. Despite it being an introductory meeting, club leaders already have many paramount issues that need urgent solutions at CHS.

“I’m really interested in helping people in emergency situations and I thought [joining SERT] could help myself and the community,” junior marketing officer Rakhi Hirpara said.

SERT’s first project is to stock teacher’s classrooms with bandages and essential medical supplies and have first aid kits in the hallways, accessible in any situation with trained students able to use them. The program hopes to help students waste less time going to the nurse for minor injuries and stop disruptions to the learning environment.

The club leaders have have already initiated conversations with the CHS administration, fundraised $500 and have 55 registered members.

Throughout the year, members will be trained in CPR, first aid, AED, and emergency situation stabilization. Trainings will be conducted by the American Heart Association and Red Cross.

“We want to provide a service to the community and we want [the members] to be CPR and AED trained and put people out there who can help others,” junior vice president Alex Eason said.

SERT has planned to host a CPR day which is coordinated with the American Heart Association to put SERT’s progress in a good light. In the spring, they will be hosting a heart run at the Las Colinas polo field.

The administration has presented its issue of needing a safer bus loop environment and necessary help with crowd control at pep rallies and school events such as debate tournaments. SERT members will be there at such events, identifiable in black shirts.

For more information about the SERT club, visit: www.chssert.com/