By Kevin Pearson
The Press Enterprise
HEMET, Calif. — On Monday, students at Tahquitz High in Hemet got a firsthand lesson on the dangers of drinking and driving. For the city’s first responders, it was also a chance to get some hands-on experience.
Tahquitz on Monday played host to the “Every 15 Minutes” program, during which students walk outside to find a mock scene of a drinking-and-driving accident. Students found two crumbled Chevrolets on Cawston Avenue and their classmates covered in blood.
One was on the ground, a “fatality” after being thrown from the vehicle. Others were pinned inside, needing the Jaws of Life to free them. The entire scene looked as though it could have been real - which was exactly the point.
Multiple agencies
Funded in large part by grant money through the state Office of Traffic Safety and the California Highway Patrol, the event featured a collaboration of several agencies and a number of students who “died” throughout the event.
As part of the program, the “living dead” had to write letters to their parents saying they died as part of a drunken driving accident and express their remorse. A funeral was held Tuesday, with many parents delivering eulogies to their children.
“Our hope is that they go ‘Whoa!’ if they are in that situation,” Principal Michael Roe said. “When they pick up the bottle or get in a car with someone who has been drinking, we hope they have the courage to say no.”
‘My heart dropped’
As students were cut free from the wreckage, a crowd of more than 500 looked on, with a few shedding tears. The student who “died” at the scene, Marques Watkins, lay in the street in the driving rain, covered in bloody makeup, for nearly two hours. At one point, his mother came to the scene and let out a scream when she saw his body - a moment Watkins said would remain with him.
“My heart dropped,” Watkins said. “I didn’t want to open my eyes when I heard her. I wouldn’t want my mom to go through that.”
One student was transported via Mercy Air and another was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. A priest was on hand and the Grim Reaper walked through campus, pulling students away every 15 minutes throughout the day.
“Anything we can do to educate kids, we are all for it,” said Hemet police Lt. Dean Evans. “We’d rather spend our man-hours teaching them this than having to use our resources on a real accident.”
The Hemet Police Department applied for a grant for the program in June and was awarded $10,000 in November. Since then, it has been working at setting up this presentation, which was planned for the spring so that it is fresh in students’ minds on prom and graduation nights.
On Monday, there were about 10 police officers, eight firefighters, six medics from American Medical Response and a three-person team from Mercy Air on scene. They were joined by representatives from Miller-Jones Mortuary, who took away the “dead” body from the scene.
And while all knew that the scene was set up, the multiagency effort used the situation as a rare chance to train with the other departments involved. From the landing of the Mercy Air chopper to the extraction of passengers from the car, the moment was performed in real time so the agencies could learn what they could do better and see how they can work together more efficiently.
“For us to support a program like this is valuable,” said interim Hemet Fire Chief Bill Whealan. “Each and every time, we have to see what we did well and what we can do better.”
Copyright 2011 The Press Enterprise, Inc.
All Rights Reserved