Tucson man travels to Florida to help health care workers, survivors
Feb 21, 2018, 5:01 AM
Around 50 Polk County High School students participated in a walk-out from school on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2018. The students protested the epidemic of mass shootings in American schools, speaking in front of the school's sign along Hwy. 108 in Columbus, NC as supporters cheered them on. Students, including Marilyn Castillo, left, cry as they read names of students killed in the Florida shooting.(Tim Kimzey /The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP)
(Tim Kimzey /The Spartanburg Herald-Journal via AP)
PHOENIX — A Tucson man has traveled to the site of a mass shooting at a high school in Florida to help serve as a mentor to other health care workers who are helping survivors.
According to KOLD-TV, Bob Porter will spend the rest of the month in Parkland, Florida, the small town were 17 people were shot and killed at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Porter is a “long time Red Cross disaster mental health volunteer who moved to Tucson a short time ago after living in Oregon and California,” according to KGUN.
Porter, who reportedly left for Florida on Tuesday, was sent to the area by the southern Arizona chapter of the American Red Cross.
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“We’ve been asked to provide support to other mental house counselors, not just the Red Cross, but local counselors, mental health personnel, churches, others and work directly with some survivors and their families,” Porter told KOLD.
“As you can imagine, a major mass casualty event like this effects a wider community, particularly with Floridians right now, after the Orlando shooting, the Fort Lauderdale shooting and the recent hurricanes,” he added.
Porter said he will be helping orient “new mental health counselors who will be helping people.”
The volunteer said he will be meeting with parents and helping identify people who may have a delayed reaction to the event due to another stressor in their lives.
KTAR News’ Paul Ihander contributed to this report.
