SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Two children, ages 7 and 9, died in a car crash on Tuesday morning at Highway 90 and Coronado Drive.
Sierra Vista Police believe a medical emergency may have caused the crash. Initial information indicates the children's mother was driving and ran a red light.
The children were students at Bella Vista Elementary School. Sierra Vista Unified School District Superintendent Terri Romo announced the district's crisis response team is helping students and staff adjust.
"Our hearts are with their family and their friends and their classmates and the entire Bella Vista staff," Romo said.
Cochise County's CARE team is supporting the district's crisis response team, helping both the school and first responders. Alana Burnacini is the supervisor for the CARE Team at the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.
"Recognizing that as these days unfold, different needs get addressed really quickly, while new needs surface as people have some of this information soak in," Burnacini said.
On Wednesday, the team is bringing therapy dogs for the students and staff.
"Having a conversation with a big old dog in your lap is so much easier than having a conversation about something really painful, sitting in a chair awkwardly. You know, it just really helps those kids feel safe," Burnacini said.
The CARE team is also supporting first responders, as many live in the communities they serve.
"It is so important that they are 100% in work mode, and then the second they can take a breath, all of the human side of things come in," Burnacini said.
The CARE team is a free resource for schools and law enforcement agencies to use in hard situations, even months after an incident. Cynthia Myers is the outreach coordinator for the Cochise County Superintendent's Office.
"The important thing is the kids, right? How are we best servicing the kids? We don't have great pediatric care here, and so being able to get out ahead of some of the emotional responses to these crises is really important, and that's our goal," Myers said.
The Superintendent's Office is working with schools to create their own crisis response teams. Tuesday's crash shows why these teams are needed.
“Sierra Vista has one of the first and kind of best crisis teams for a school district, think, in our county, and so they were able to do a lot of that triaging on their own," Myers said. "We're giving them the tools, not only in a crisis, but in a, you know, in a normal situation, in school with challenging behavioral issues, to really be able to address them and know when it's time to reach out for help."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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