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Sheldon High School hosts mock wreck
Nevada Daily Mail
Numerous emergency services agencies converged on Sheldon High School on Tuesday afternoon. They were responding to a simulated vehicle wreck involving students from the school, one of which was driving while intoxicated.
Guest speaker Russ Burris later told the students, "you have an injury like this, you are going to be stuck at home in a wheelchair while your friends are out doing everything you used to do."
Tuesday's event was designed to educate Sheldon's students about the consequences of driving while impaired or distracted.
Students were dismissed from class about 12:45 p.m. to go outside where two cars had been staged on the lawn near the old school building. Several of their fellow students played the part of the victims complete with fake blood and injuries. One vehicle was upside down and the other had crashed head on into a tree. Three of the "victims" had been ejected from the vehicle with two lying on the ground, and one lying on the hood of the car she had been riding in.
A passerby, played by another student, was the first to find the scene and called 911. He was followed by one of the victim's mothers.
The first emergency services personnel to arrive was a deputy from Vernon County Sheriff's office. She was followed by Cpl. J. Wilde with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The officers checked the victims for injuries and began an investigation.
Next to arrive were firefighters from Sheldon Fire Department, followed by an ambulance from Vernon County Ambulance District, and a truck with rescue tools from Nevada Fire Department.
Firefighters and the ambulance crew began assessing and treating victims. One of the girls that had been ejected was pronounced dead at the scene with a punctured carotid artery. She would have died in just moments if the injury had been real, long before help arrived.
The two other victims that were ejected were strapped on long spine boards with cervical collars to prevent further spinal cord injury. One was loaded into a waiting Air Methods helicopter to be flown to a trauma center in Joplin, or Kansas City where she would be met by a trauma surgeon. The other was taken to the hospital by ambulance. It was announced later during the debriefing in the gym that both students had later died as a result of their injuries.
Lastly, the impaired driver was loaded onto the ambulance cot to be taken to the hospital. Before the cot was loaded into the ambulance however, Wilde advised the driver that he was being placed under arrest for manslaughter as a result of the victim that died on scene. Additional charges would undoubtedly be added later following the deaths of the other two victims.
Thankfully, the above scenario was only a demonstration of the possible consequences, not only for the person that chose to drive impaired but also for the other victims of the wreck, their friends, and their family. Left unspoken, was the impact on the first responders, many of whom are parents themselves that may be called to respond to one of their children's friend's wrecks, or as a worst case scenario, a wreck involving their own child. For everyone involved, it will be a life-changing event.
Following the outside demonstration, the students met in the gym where Wilde explained the mechanics of what happens in a vehicle crash and some of the incidents he has responded to during his career.
Finally, the students were addressed by Russ Burris from ThinkFirst! Missouri. From his wheelchair, Burris told the students about traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injuries. He described an accident suffered by a friend of his who is now a quadriplegic and suffers from "locked in" syndrome. Burris' friend is completely alert and oriented, but has zero control over his body and now spends his days confined to a wheelchair or bed.
People who are quadriplegics have no control over their arms or legs. Even though they may be normal mentally, they are completely dependent on a caregiver for everything from covering them up at night if they are cold, to taking them to the bathroom, to feeding them.
Burris said, "I am lucky. I don't like it, but I am fortunate" to only be a paraplegic. Burris has the use of his arms and hands and can be independent.
"Ages 15 to 24 are at the highest risk for spinal cord injuries," Burris said, "and almost all are preventable."
He explained the leading cause of spinal cord injuries are vehicle wrecks, which account for 50 percent of all spinal cord injuries. Violence is second, and is the only completely preventable cause. Falls are third, and sports are fourth.
In talking about violence, Burris told the students about a girl whose boyfriend walked up and handed her a loaded gun. She handed it back and asked why it was loaded. The boyfriend said, "So I can do this," and shot her in the neck.
Burris talked about injuries that have occurred to people while hunting. On the opening day of the 2015 deer season, a hunter was flown to University of Missouri hospital shortly after nine in the morning. He was not wearing a safety harness and had fallen from his tree stand.
Burris talked about seat belts, saying the main reason people give for not wearing a seatbelt is comfort. He asked the students how comfortable they would be if their parents had to help them go to the bathroom for the rest of their lives. Seat belts improve a crash victim's chances of walking away by 70 percent, Burris said. This is drastically higher than the 30 percent while not wearing a seat belt.
Alcohol, speed, and distracted driving are the three main causes of vehicle wrecks.
Finally, Burris told the students his own story. He admitted that he liked to drive, however, he failed his first driving test. The examiner told him that he was "too cautious." He later passed his driving test and got his first car the day after he turned 18. He said, "I had the freedom I had longed for my entire life." That freedom was short lived however as just three months after getting his first car, Burris was in a wreck that would imprison him in a wheelchair for the remainder of his life.
He had been awake for almost two days and had just dropped his girl friend off at home around midnight. He said the last thing he remembers was walking off of her porch. He crashed 25 minutes later, crossing the centerline and flipping his car. He was less than a mile from home.
He spent the remainder of his first summer out of high school in the hospital learning to use his arms again. Burris himself had been to a similar presentation as a high school student. He urged the students sitting before him not to ignore the message as he had done.
Burris told the students that every time you get in a car, you have a choice. Have you been drinking? Has the driver been drinking? Are you going to text while driving? Are you sleepy? There is always the option to not get into the car.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, 2,163 teenagers ages 16 to 19 were killed in vehicle crashes. Another 243,243 were injured. Of those who died, more than half were not wearing a seat belt.
For more information, go to www.cdc.gov or ThinkFirst! Missouri's website at http://www.thinkfirst.missouri.edu/.
Don't be a statistic, don't drink and drive. Don't text while driving.