By BriAnne Dopart
The Herald-Sun
Copyright 2008 The Durham Herald Co.
DURHAM, N.C. — Paramedic Sara Houston believes her job isn’t just about saving people when she’s called, but about saving people before she gets that order to respond to an emergency.
So when the 30-year-old Durham native isn’t responding to alcohol-related wrecks, she’s trying to prevent them by scaring straight those charged with driving drunk.
Over the past 18 months, Houston has not missed a single Victim Impact Panel, a monthly event in Durham County for first-time offenders. The drivers hear testimony from those whose lives were tragically altered because of the actions of a drunken driver.
The purpose of such meetings, said Ollie Jeffers, Durham’s panel organizer, is not to shame the drunken driver. Rather, it is to provide a different perspective on what could have been the outcome of their actions.
Jeffers is a leader of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which organizes and sponsors each Victim Impact Panel. MADD was responsible, two years ago, for getting Durham County’s judges to agree on use of the panels, Jeffers said.
Houston estimates she’s seen between 60 and 70 DWI wrecks since becoming a paramedic six years ago. The panels provide an opportunity to give drunken drivers a window into accidents from a first responder’s perspective, she said.
While all accident scenes are difficult to handle and see, some of the most difficult, said Houston, involve fatalities in which the driver who was drunk survived.
“We treat everyone the same way regardless,” said Houston. “But when I’m taking care of a [drunken driver] who just murdered a family of four, it hurts my heart.”
Houston knows that most drunken drivers don’t intend to cause death or injury. It’s the unintended impact of drinking and driving that she warns the first-time offenders about.
“I see their perspectives change because I put it in terms of situations I think they can relate to, like what to do if your child dies [in a drunken driving wreck] five days before Christmas and you have to return presents to pay for the funeral. Or if a whole family — all but one child — dies, and the drunk driver lives. I try to give them situations where they can relate, where they can say, ‘Hmm ... that could’ve been my child’ or ‘That could’ve been my parent.’ ”
Citing her dedication to preventing drunken driving here in Durham and her refusal to accept any kind of reimbursement for her expenses, MADD presented the paramedic with a certificate of its appreciation at a meeting of the County Commissioners last month.
“She’s done an outstanding job,” Jeffers said. “Every month after the panels we have people come up and thank us for letting them see the other side of it. They see their side of it, but they don’t see the other side of it. That’s what she does.”
Jeffers said that Houston has refused to accept any kind of compensation for her efforts, and won’t even accept money to pay for the mileage she spends driving to the panels. Houston has spoken on panels on her days off and this year, even on her birthday, Jeffers said.