If you didn’t know that it was an exercise, you’d think it was a fatal crash.
A drama with bloody victims, a crumpled dead body on the pavement, parents and kids wailing, and a helicopter rescue effort unfolded Friday morning at Montezuma Cortez High school as part of safe-driving awareness week.
The students put on an impressive performance and were assisted by Cortez Fire, Cortez Police, Colorado State Patrol, Southwest Memorial Hospital ambulance crews, and Air Care One, a helicopter rescue unit from San Juan Regional in Farmington, N.M.
This is the first year for the elaborate accident scenario, said Lori Mott, an EMT and high-school instructor for firefighting and medical service careers.
During a practice run, she shouted kind but firm orders to her teenage students, seemed to move slowly even when trying not to.
But during the live event, they were ready – dressed in rescue gear, administering first aid, and loading bloodied victims onto gurneys and into ambulances.
The experience for the actors, and the hundreds of students gathered to watch, is invaluable.
“Don’t text and drive, or you will die,” said sophomore Drake Segler of the learning moment. “Careful who you choose to get a ride with; there are fliers everywhere telling us that.”
Ahnna Higgins, a freshman, has seen “a couple” accidents already.
“You do not want it to happen,” she says. “They made this event a surprise so it had more of a shock value for students.”
Nearby a parent gives a running commentary to a wide-eyed student who’s “never been in or seen an accident.”
“Look at that body, he’s dead,” says the parent who did not give her name. “For those parents, it’s over, he’s not coming home. That’s what happens when your texting, drinking and driving, talking on the phone or not wearing your seat belt while driving.”
She tells the student that it’s a common result of distracted driving – drifting to the side of the road, overcorrecting and flipping the vehicle.
State Trooper Boden gave gruesome statistics at a packed assembly:
Sixteen-year-olds are three times more likely than others to be involved in an accident.
Last year, 81 people died in car accidents in Colorado, and 60 percent were not wearing seat belts.
In 2012, 31,000 people died nationwide on in vehicle crashes.
“I never thought it would happen to me when I was young, then I rolled my pickup without a seat belt on, broke both my shoulders, crushed my skull, blew out my knee, and was in a coma for 22 days,” he said.
A film is shown of the laughing faces of youths before they died in crashes.
“Life is so fragile,” says a teary mom.
Christopher Kelly takes the microphone: “I’ve been to too many funerals during high school,” he says. “I still live with the loss of my friends, the image of their parents at the funeral. During spring and prom, making safe decisions is crucial. Listen to the voice in your head that you should not be doing this.”
A brave young woman relayed her harrowing car accident in 2008, how it severely injured a relative, and changed her life forever.
“Learn from my family’s pain, learn about the importance of wearing a seat belt and responsible driving,” she pleads.
Montezuma County Undersheriff Lynda Carter says it’s up to parents to teach kids to focus on driving.
“Require them to put their phone where they cannot reach it while driving. It is a habit they should learn early,” Carter said. “The call or text can wait.”
Trooper Boden has covered nearly 1,000 crashes in nine years on the force.
“I’ve seen horrific injuries,” he says. Young kids have died in my arms – they had no chance. Bad things happen when poor choices are made.”
Scare tactics work, said student Waynoka Whiteskunk, a junior.
“Hopefully this message gets out,” she says. “Your friends are depending on you the moment you drive them around. If you see bad driving behavior, speak up.”
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com