Schools & Teenage Driving...

[mikie333]

you may all have seen posts by me before, i don't know, but just in case:

I am 17, in high school (a senior), in an Explorers post (fire, obviously), and will eventaully (after college) become a paramedic/firefighter...

but for now...i am still looking to get what i can acomplished...

My issue i would like to bring up...is drinking and wreckless driving in regards to teenagers. I AM NOT here to lecture whether teens should drink or not, but rather the fact that they (we...i am a teenager) often get into cars drunk (...though, not me in this case).

at my school, a police officer speaks to a few grade levels individually (with a powerpoint presentation) about the risks of not wearing a seat belt, reckless driving, drinking/driving, etc...and we had two paramedics (from Florida i beleive) that tour the country and give a GRAPHIC presentation about drinking/driving (they show slides of peoples (dead) bodies traped within the mangled car...blood and all) but they won't be back this year.

My question is...what else can my school (I am primarily the one pushing the administration to do more...) do to show the risks? Especially for the senior class, who most likly won't be lectured on this because we have been through it before...but we ALWAYS need reminders...(some of my friends are just out-right stupid...don't ask me why i befriend them...)

I have heard that Arch Medical (the med-evac heliocopter company...) and local police dept and fire dept offer a 'simulator' to schools showing a simulated car wreck and the extrication process and whatnot...do you all know of details about that?

what else do you all recomend I can sugest to the school that could be done...?

thanks!!!

(ps: i posted this in the MO board becuase i was hoping you all, at least those from the STL and surrounding areas could give info in regards to things you may have heard/seen or done before for situations like this

should i also possibly make a post in the main forum about this too, whether it is the same or a little different?)

[Itsmy6]

i've actually seen one of those recreations firsthand and if that doesn't send the message out than nothing will. All i can suggest is contact your local FD and ask them what the details are on getting one.

[mikie333]

i've actually seen one of those recreations firsthand and if that doesn't send the message out than nothing will. All i can suggest is contact your local FD and ask them what the details are on getting one.

really? why doesn't it give the message (though, i could see why, people would think it is 'cool')

[Bones42]

It does give a very strong message. But if you believe that someone seeing something once is going to change the way they live their life, you need to find another business....fire/paramedic will not be a happy life for you.

When someone can find a way to have people learn common sense and live by it, they will be a billionaire.

[NJFFSA16]

The answer is staring you in the face....right around the corner.

I assume you are in Missouri. Please contact Anheuser-Busch with your query. They have extensive programs dealing with the prevention of underage drinking and drunk driving. One speaker you may want to request from them is Barbara Babb. She delivers a graphic, factual and memorable presentation on video to high-school and college students about the tragic consequences of underage drinking and drunk driving.

From their website http://www.beeresponsible.com/home

Barbara Babb has been a registered nurse for more than twenty years. In 1984, she joined an emergency helicopter service and began applying her skills and expertise to the care of trauma victims. All too often, Barbara's job entailed trying to save the lives of teenage drunk driving victims. Barbara is still working to save lives, but now she's doing it in high schools across America. In 1985, she assembled a factual presentation, based on true stories about her experiences, to underscore the consequences of underage drinking and drunk driving. Barbara's presentation is part of Anheuser-Busch's “Make The Right Call” program to help stop underage drinking before it starts.

Barbara does not lecture students, she simply tells them what she saw and uses slides of real accidents to stress the importance of making good decisions. Barbara tells teenagers that they have the power, as well as the responsibility, to make smart choices. Her aim is to dispel the invincible “it can't happen to me” attitude and drive home the fact that underage drinking and drunk driving are serious issues with serious consequences. She delivers her message to more than 50,000 students each year.

For her efforts, Barbara received the 1997 National Commission Against Drunk Driving's 13th Annual Education and Prevention Award. She also received a Distinguished Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1988. She has participated in a White House briefing on drunk driving, served on the Missouri Seat Belt Coalition, and was appointed a member of the State of Missouri's Task Force on Driving while Intoxicated.

Visit their website...they are based, of course, in St. Loius.

[mikie333]

It does give a very strong message. But if you believe that someone seeing something once is going to change the way they live their life, you need to find another business....fire/paramedic will not be a happy life for you.

When someone can find a way to have people learn common sense and live by it, they will be a billionaire.

well ya, i get what your saying, and i havebeen to graphic MVA's before and im fine, but i'm saying for something lik driving, teenagres usually respond to presentations with some graphic images because it will be in the back of their mind for ever

especially if they are not expecting that (unlike fire/paramedic, because it is somehting to be expected)

but some people can handle more than others of course

[mikie333]

i've actually seen one of those recreations firsthand and if that doesn't send the message out than nothing will. All i can suggest is contact your local FD and ask them what the details are on getting one.

do you know who offers it and how to get in touch?? ( i found a clip on KMOV's website, where it was done @ Marquette HS (Chesterfield), Monarch FPD was involved)

[Itsmy6]

The one i saw was from the Hazelwood FD and ARCH. From there i have no clue. Sorry man.

[Catch22]

We've put one of the "Docu-dramas" on about once every three years or so. It does make an impact, but it takes a lot of work and coordination, plus good actors.

We work with a local hospital that does our moulage (don't know if that's spelled right, but it's a heck of a shot at it), ambulance district, highway patrol, local PD, the coroner, a funeral home, and a helicopter service. The high school's FCCLA provides the "actors" and a local wrecker company provides the cars.

We make sure the school doesn't allow any PE or other classes outside while we set things up with the cars. After you get all the kids moulaged (you have to get them snuck out of class so no one knows what's going on), we'll place them where we want them. We usually use at least 6 kids, one drunk driver, one fatality, one witness/caller, one that gets flown (sometimes the helicopter will actually take of with them and fly around and bring them back, much to the dismay of school staff), and a couple that get loaded into the ambulance.

We all meet at the fire house down the street while the students do a walk around of the incident with everyone frozen. Then the "caller" freaks out and calls our fire line to dispatch us. Someone on the scene has a radio (we all work off the same frequency) that's near a PA system so everyone can hear the traffic. We come rolling in, do our thing, staggering our responses so it's somewhat realistic. Driver gets arrested, the DOA gets put into a body bag and into the hearse, injuries get transported from the scene.

One thing we make sure we do is during the pre-planning meetings (done two months ahead) and before the incident, we meet with students who are acting and their parents to explain how things will work. We even have them wear old clothes that can be cut off with bathing suits underneath to add to some realism with the moulage (the gal that does our moulage gets interesting sometimes, impalements and everything).

Afterward we go in and talk with groups of students. If possible, we try to pair up FD/EMS with the law enforcement or coroner so everyone can get a little different aspect.

If I can get you more info, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[SgtScott31]

I'm sure you could get the local chapter of MADD involved. They have really good speakers when it comes to drinking & driving.

There's only so much you can do. It's one thing to have drunk people in your car, it's another to get into a car with a drunk behind the wheel.

We just had two graduating seniors in a nearby highschool die from such an incident. A male was driving a jeep wrangler and ran through a stop sign and flipped. The three females in the wrangler with him were ejected. Two were killed.

My volly squad also worked one that killed 5 in a Cadillac Deville. No skid marks...none were wearing seatbelts and they hit a concrete driveway close to 80mph. Two were thrown onto the driveway, the other three were pinned in the car and killed. I have some pictures. It was amazing what happened to that Cadillac.

I am a DUI instructor at my department and I am very adament about getting them off the road. Although it seems that every time I am in DUI court in Nashville TN, it is just as full as it has always been. You would think with the stiffer penalties, more jail time, higher fines, that it would have an effect. I guess not...

[Catch22]

One thing about it, you're not going to talk any sense into everyone, but if you can save one life, you've made a tremendous residual impact.

[slcpdexplorer]

My school does a crash simulation. They have Mehlville FPD and County Brown come out and do the demonstration. Starting this year they are only going to do the accident every other year. They feel that it will make more of an impact. For the years they dont do it, a spokesperson from MODOT and the SRO will have a presentation. Im a sophmore now, so when I am a Senior we will have MODOT. I would much rather see the accident demonstration.
If you are mainly in charge of trying to set it up, try calling whatever FD you are covered by, also try calling the local PD.