04/27/12 With the Plymouth High School Prom this weekend the school’s LEAD (Leaders Eliminating Alcohol and Drugs) Club planned a visual example of the effects of drinking and driving with a mock crash.
Thursday morning about 10 a.m. nearly 1200 students converged on the front lawn of the high school where a couple of crashed cars had been set up to represent a horrific crash. As the students settled into the bleachers, officers were dispatched from Plymouth Police Department and drove into the mock crash scene with lights going and sirens blaring.
A quick check of the victims, 5 high school students dressed in prom attire and make-up on so they appeared to be bloodied and mangled by police sent Plymouth paramedics, EMS and firefighters to the scene.
Paramedic Marsha Wainescott narrated the event, explaining to the students to the various processes police, fire and EMS go through when they arrive on the scene of a crash.
The mock crash is meant to discourage teens from drinking and driving, not only on prom night but throughout their lives. It is also used as a training scenario for emergency services including police, fire, EMS and dispatch.
One of the drivers in the mock crash was arrested for drinking and driving while the second driver luckily only sustained minor injuries. The two girls in the crash were injured, one of the seriously and was transported to the helicopter for transport to a trauma center while the second one was taken from ambulance from the scene. The results of the mock crash did have one victim died at the scene and the Marshall County Coroner’s office was called to do their job, removing the body from the crash site.
Deputy Coroner, John Grolich spoke of the process he goes through locating the parents of the victim and then having to tell them their child was dead.
At the close of the presentation PHS Principal Jim Condon told students he remembered seeing a similar demonstration when he was in school. He continued, “I remembered think this will never happen to me and I was happy to be missing class.” Condon then told his students that when he was principal at Knox it was his responability to identify young people involved in accidents that couldn’t identify themselves. The last kid he had to identify was his daughter’s best friend. He said, “This was a disturbing situation I will never forget.” Condon then reminded the student that their decisions will not only impact them but their families, friends and the entire community.
Teacher and LEAD Advisor Gene Skirvin said, “If we can save the life of just one person, because they don’t drink and drive it was a success. It is just like a lot of things in education, in the fact, that you may never know the impact that was made.”
Students participating were Lane Singleton, Connor Flynn, Hayden Skirvin, Amber Redinger, Brandi Reiter.
