BLAINE, Minn. – (April 9, 2015) – A simulated, fatal crash took place this week at Centennial High School.
The simulation is part of a two-day event called Arrive Alive which is focused on challenging teens to think about drinking, driving, personal safety, the responsibility of making mature decisions and the impact their decisions have on family, friends and the community. Sgt. Mark Boerboom of the Blaine police dept. explained how teens saw first-hand the emergency responders at work after the crash happened, as well as the emotion and horror that accompanies a fatality.
“Today’s accident was caused by a distracted driver as well as a drunk driver in the four-wheeler, so we’re just hoping to bring attention to what their choices, how they can affect an entire community,” Boerboom said.
In the simulation, paramedics treated several students for minor injuries. A seriously injured student, trapped inside a vehicle, is recovered, pronounced dead and removed from the scene by a funeral home.
The second student is crushed by an ATV, driven by a drunk student, and is airlifted by Life Link III to Unity Hospital where he dies. The third student is arrested for drunk driving. The fourth student, a distracted driver, kills another student while snap chatting and texting.
A select group of students were invited to participate in the event – they prepared for weeks to put on this dramatic presentation for their peers. Senior Noah Benson hopes that his fellow classmates took the event seriously.
“My hope, that they take away how serious that drinking and driving is or texting and driving, snap chatting and driving, just all that stuff,” Benson said. “Because everybody thinks, ‘oh that’s not going to happen to me’… from them losing their friends, family, whatever, it comes home like ‘wow,’ this is real, this could actually happen.”
Day two of the event took place the next morning. During an assembly students were able to see of a video depicting the ramifications of the crash. Other activities included taking the arrested drivers to jail; transporting the critically injured patient to a local trauma center where doctors simulate attempts to save his life; a doctor notifying parents of a child’s untimely death.
The assembly includes a mock funeral assembly for the two students who were killed and the reading of letters written to family by students involved as if they had died. It is an intense experience for the students but one that all those involved hope will end up saving lives.
