By Sara Ballenger

Seven teens from Los Altos High School could take the lead in local emergency response during the next disaster as part of a new city preparedness program that qualifies students to be sworn in as disaster service workers for the city of Los Altos and Santa Clara County.

The Los Altos Police and Santa Clara County Fire departments are in the midst of developing an emergency preparedness pilot program modeled after the Federal Emergency Managment Agency community emergency response team - a program developed after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.

The 30-hour program has been implemented nationwide to prepare people to deal with emergencies.

Ronald Nelson, emergency preparedness coordinator at Los Altos, said the program educates students about various safety details of the school so that they may assist, if needed, in an actual emergency.

The first seven students have gone through Standardized Emergency Management System Training, which is how to communicate between various departments at a scene, Nelson said.

The school hopes to offer the program to all students next year, including advanced first-aid training.

For more information about the program, call Ronald Nelson at 960-8324.