Your whole life can be completely shattered in only a few seconds.
That was the message relayed to Grade 9 students from École Desrochers and Jasper Junior/Senior High School as they witnessed first hand the deadly consequences of drinking and driving, thanks to a program called Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (PARTY).
The presentation, May 20, began with students being lead to the Emergency Services Building where they came face-to-face with a crushed car, broken glass and three bloodied actors. The group of nearly 40 stood back with grimaced faces as they watched the lights and heard the sirens of emergency responders arriving to the mock drinking and driving accident.
“The students are at an age where soon they’ll be getting their driver’s permits,” said Eric Bouchard, JJSHS vice-principal. “So, as they enter that part of their life we want them to have a better sense of all the dangers involved with drinking and driving and reckless driving.”
Once firefighters ripped the doors off the crushed vehicle, the driver—who fared the best out of the three—was thrown into handcuffs and put into the back of a police cruiser while paramedics rushed to stabilize the front seat passenger. In the backseat a young woman lay still, killed on impact.
After the staged affair, students headed over to Seton General Healthcare Centre where nurses were busy trying to keep the accident’s passenger alive. As hurried hands checked the girl’s vital signs and hooked up tubes to her body, the students somberly watched.
“You always hear about these kind of things, but you don’t really think too much about them,” said Grade 9 student Danya McKenzie. “This really shows the bad side of what could and probably will happen if you drink and drive.”
After some panicked moments, things got even worse. The injured girl was pronounced dead.
“I remember seeing this two years ago and I still haven’t forgot it,” said Jada Moorhouse, who played one of the accident victims. “I think it really helps the student seeing someone they know as one of the victims— it has a much bigger impact, I think.”
From there, students were led to the morgue before heading over to the victim’s services room, where Paul Schmidt, Jasper’s victim services coordinator, shared his experience talking with grieving families.
“A lot of the time people are just in shock, so we’re here as someone they can communicate with,” Schmidt said. “We help with the simple things that you just can’t think about at that moment.”
Schmidt has been involved with the PARTY Program in Jasper for about eight years, and while he said the program can’t take full credit, he said there haven’t been any drinking and driving accidents involving the town’s youth in years.
“I think the program really does have an impact on the kids, and I really hope it makes them think twice when it comes to these risky situations.”
Afterwards students headed back to the fire station where they heard from the RCMP about the legal consequences of not only drinking and driving, but also the dangers of distracted driving like texting while at the wheel.
According to the RCMP’s presentation, from May 1-20 there have been 17 distracted driving fatalities in Alberta, seven of those were drivers under the age of 20.
“The reality is we all know somebody who has been affected by drinking and driving or dangerous driving,” said RCMP Sgt. Rick Bidaisee. “I don’t think we’ll ever eliminate it–people will always take risks, but our mission today is to help reduce that number of collisions.”
Joe Storms, a park warden, also talked to the students about the dangers of bush parties.
If the day’s events hadn’t been enough to send the message home, the students were introduced to Derrick Winters, a drinking and driving survivor.
Winters shared the story of his own fatal mistake, which took the life of his best friend and almost left him paralyzed.
Today, Winters has recovered from his injuries and has spent years talking about his mistakes to try and discourage others from making the same mistake he did.
“I remember listening to this same presentation when I was your age, and I remember thinking that would never happen to me,” Winters said. “But a few years later there I was in a hospital bed—I didn’t even know who I was, I had to learn to walk and talk all over again.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
