We’ve all heard the message loud and clear over the years.
Driving under the influence is not just dangerous, but also potentially deadly.
Data gets thrown at us, highlighting the number of people killed on the roads every year as a result of someone’s decision to get behind the wheel impaired by alcohol or drugs.
But statistics on the thousands killed annually are sterile and perhaps do not adequately convey the gravity of the issue to connect that message with the public, especially young people who are not immune to the mentality of “It’ll never happen to me.”
So what better way to truly illustrate the seriousness of the matter than through a live, staged and carefully coordinated demonstration of what can all too easily unfold when someone makes a fateful decision to drive under the influence.
For the past several years, Sundre High School Drama Club students have participated in such an initiative in collaboration with emergency responders, including members of the Sundre Fire Department, EMS and RCMP. The scenario is a part of the Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth program.
Lending a crucial hand to make the demonstration possible is Bulldog Towing, which makes available vehicles that are used for the staged crash that also offers a great training opportunity for responders.
Drama students compellingly play the roles of casualties, including deceased, injured and an impaired driver who gets arrested, all complete with fairly convincing bruised and bloodied makeup that on a passing glance looks nearly real.
All the while, their classmates observe the scenario, which typically involves an extrication effort with firefighters sawing through a windshield and using the Jaws of Life to remove the roof to reach a trapped casualty.
We commend the emergency responders and the drama club students for continuing this important initiative, which is further enhanced by personal stories of loss during indoor presentations that follow the demonstration.
Hopefully, those images and stories resonate in the students’ minds, leaving them better prepared to avoid ending up in a similar situation in real life in which the blood pouring from a wound is not makeup.
— Ducatel is the Round Up’s editor
