need help on planning for prom/grad. PR program

[jasonnremtb]

were are in the inital stages of planning to
put on a pr presentation for pre prom/ graduation about the dangers of drinking and driving.i know a lot of departments do a mock mva, with asst from the local p.d., ems, and the corners office. does anyone have any info on this?whom to get involved and a sample presentation plan? i would also like to say this forum has been so helpfull and informative for me thanks everyone

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: captain james ]

[EastKyFF]

We did a couple of these at local HS's but the best one was at UK with 4-H Senior Conference. We had a girl and a guy in the car. The girl had gone to our local radio station and recorded narration--"We'd had lots of fun at prom, but then we went to a party..." bla bla bla. Then we played that tape over the PA as they sat in the car and she squalled and screamed. On cue, the Lexington FD rolled in with an aerial and an ambulance and did a full extrication. We had the guy die and put him in the coroner's van and the whole thing. They were both dressed up in good clothes--the girl bought a white prom dress at a hand-me-down store and we covered it in blood. Very dramatic.

Corn syrup + red food coloring = awesome-looking fake blood--they can put it in their mouths and everything. It washes out of turnout gear with plain water.

James, I'm next door in Johnson County--we can get together if you want some help!

[Fire603]

The best program Ive ever seen is one put on by a group called drivesmart in Evergreen, Colorado.

I don't have their number but if you call Evergreen CO fire Department (303)674-3145 they probably can hook you up with the lady that runs it.

[dragonfyre]

If you have a local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving they usually have information and should help you.

That's how we got started with ours.

Try not to just have the outdoor display but also get the students into an assembly to discuss what they saw and what you see everyday. Try not to tell too many war stories unless they involve other students they might know and remember.

Good luck,

[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: dragon-fyre ]

[MFD]

well being a young firefighter(19 almost 20) all 4 years of high school we had "mock accident" with CareFlight and the full deal(firefighters with jaws of life,spreaders,ram,ambulance,state troopers,fake blood,Code 3s and Sirens running in parking lot to the football stadium)(that was the scene)(one actor/kid died on the scene)(they FULLY opened up that car one or two times)(where they do what i call "Roof flap"(you cut the windshield piller and dent in on the roof back to the "b piller" and flap it back.) we ran this through the SADD(students against drunk driving) it a intense wake up call for those kids think they'll never die.Then the guy explains "the golden hour"(from the time of crash till the till they have the person in Emergency Room). Then SADD members read a few poems/stories about dieing young in a car accident.(VERY SAD)
Plus it makes them relize how important Firefighters,EMTs,Cops,and CareFlight personal are.My dept doesn't do it(the dept i almost joined does). Usually out of the whole school year it was my 2nd favorite day.(1st was my favorite was last day of school) My Ex Girlfriend was a actor in the Mock Accident my senior year. she thought i was all excited to see her act when I was more excited to see the fire trucks and jaws in action. .

[firecadetak]

We have also done a mock MVA the day before prom night. We got two cars from the impound lot and banged them up a little. We had the high school drama students as victims with the full moulage effect. We did the full extrication and patient treatment, including having one or two DOA's. We had all the rigs present with usually about 15 personnel participating.

[ggtruckie]

yes the mock MVA is a great idea,

the first year we did one we did it at lunch break at the high school. everything was set up and ready to go just before lunch started so when the bell rang and everyone came down to lunch they would see us getting started.

Well that kinda backfired!!!!!

no one knew that we were going to be doing this, they failed to announce it over the PA during homeroom. so everyone thought it was real.

LOL

but sadly we had a couple of students start balling thier eyes out when they saw thier freinds get covered with a sheet, pretending to be dead.

so be sure to announce it over the intercom at school.


I had such great memories in HS.

[DaSharkie]

As it was pointed out by Maplewood I found that the best impression can be made by use of a helicopter. Mast services are very willing to use their birds in these exercises and they'll only pull their helicopter away if they have a call. We did one of these 2 years ago, only for juniors and seniors, and it turned out well. We had a parent, actually the mother of one of the kids in the car, who acted as a real mother and did a great job as she came across the scene showing the pain this lunacy causes. One tip: Make sure there are ample empty alcohol containers around so they really get the point.

[Svfman]

The EMS explorer post I was involved in before i joined my fire dept. has done a mock accident the last two years. First things first, clear it with highschool principal, and so fourth, and then you need to make a plan(speaking from experiance!!) We then wrote out how we were going to set up the cars, the order of emergency vehicles coming into the parking lot, what we thought should be done to the vehicles i.e. roof flap, et. And gave this to all the different depts that were going to be a part of this. My friend helps a wrecker operator, and we just towed two donated cars in his back yard and with the help of a couple of sledge hammers, and a lot of built up aggresion we made them look like the real deal. our prom is always on a saturday, so we planned the accident for the thursday before prom, after school. School got out, we were set up, and it went as planned, we had several deceased that got put in body bags, some that were treated like an actual arrest situation, with the emts doing cpr right in front of the crowd, I was the drunk driver, so i was given a field sobritey test by attending officers, and, i was told i play a pretty good drunk, i was placed under arrest, in handcuffs, and sat in cage for what seemed like forever, and we did use fake blood, and we had beer cans around the vehicles, but make sure to clear that with the principal. The next day, which was a fri. i wore a orange prisoner jumpsuit, with handcuffs, and a belly chain, and was escorted to class by a police officer in the morning so that everyone saw what was happening. the deaceased wore black gowns with faces painted white, and they could not speak all day. we had teachers that were yelling at them to speak, even after they were told that the participating students couldnt speak. we had an assembly that after noon, and we wore our uniforms, and showed a video of the mock accident for those who had missed it,and played "tears in heaven" during the movie, we read poems, and had a guest who was a senior in a neighboring town, who had an accident, and is now paralyzed due to drinking and driving. I was told later, that the day of the mock accident, our local dispatch had actuall 911 calls sceaming there was a horrible accident in the highschool parking lot, of course dispatch knew what was going on, and reassured them is was a mock accident, and we also had moms come over crying and screaming, so i guess we did something right. one thing i would advise, dont do it two years in a row, it just doesnt work, and we thought about helicoptors, but the nearest place was in a field, and we were afraid that it would land and throw rocks all over students cars who were trying to leave, so we axed that idea, anyways, if ya have any other ?'s let me know.

[dmleblanc]

My department has participated in a program called Operation Prom Night on several different occasions at the local high school. A couple of tips to remember: Don't plan on doing it every year...It tends to lose its effectiveness if they've seen it before or seen it recently. It has more impact on the students if they've never seen anything like this before. Use helicoptors if available, they're really impressive! Find a good EMS instructor to help you with moulage (makeup, fake blood, etc). Some EMS instructors have all the makeup kits and stuff because they use them for training their EMT students in patient assessment. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, but recruit the school's Drama Club, if it has one! Give them the opportunity to play the parts of the victims...They want to act! Make sure that all responders who will be doing the actual extrication go over the cars and plan the extrications step by step BEFORE the demonstration, so that the extrication goes smoothly and you look real professional. Have your local dispatcher make a tape of what the actual dispatch would be for this incident, then play that over the PA system to start the action off. (We did ours in the high school's football stadium). Cover the scene completely with large tarps prior to the event, so that your audience doesn't get a chance to scope out too much before the action starts. These are just some of the things that I observed as a responder to this "incident"....I have not actually helped to plan one, but I've seen the work that goes into it. Hope you find this information useful.

[dmleblanc]

Almost forgot...If your local coroner can help you with this, seeing one of their friends placed into a body bag has a big effect on the kids. Make it one of the more popular kids in school....captain of the football team, etc. This really gets their attention and will make it really hit home. I also like the idea about the victims having to go to school and can't talk to anyone all day because they're "dead". Our high school did that, too....

[JAMESBENNETT]

There is a program call "shattered Dreams" That has a very detailed outline of a program that is being done in alot of places around Texas. It involves not only the Mock mva, but a whole program of pulling student to symblize the average deathtoll of druck driving for a 24 hr period, councelors who talk with student, and lots more. You can e-mail if you would like and I will send you what I can. [email protected]