Starflight Mock DWI Crash Presented at RCS
On May 5th Ripley Central School high school students attended a mock crash scenario that could have taken place on a Prom night. The presentation by the Starflight Mock DWI Crash Team is a joint venture between the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department, WCA Foundation and WCS Services Corporation.
“Mock DWI crash scenarios are not new to school systems,” said Team Coordinator Ron Hasson. “We have been doing them in this area for almost fifteen years and have received numerous compliments from teachers, students and parents alike. Our greatest reward, however, is that there have not been any DWI accidents involving students that attended our programs in the year we presented at their school during our target times of Prom and Graduation.”
Surveys are sent to some classes and responses like one young lady’s is typical, “If my boyfriend drinks, I’m not riding with him.”
“We try to go to a school every four years so that all the students from 9 through 12 are given the message to not drink and drive,” continued Hasson. By combining educational and behavioral objectives, with emotion evoking music, audio tape recordings, and by developing a contrived “theatrical” approach to the event, the DWI Crash Team provide an effective message to students about drinking and driving.
On May 5th Ripley Central School high school students attended a mock crash scenario that could have taken place on a Prom night. The presentation by the Starflight Mock DWI Crash Team is a joint venture between the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department, WCA Foundation and WCS Services Corporation.
“Mock DWI crash scenarios are not new to school systems,” said Team Coordinator Ron Hasson. “We have been doing them in this area for almost fifteen years and have received numerous compliments from teachers, students and parents alike. Our greatest reward, however, is that there have not been any DWI accidents involving students that attended our programs in the year we presented at their school during our target times of Prom and Graduation.”
Surveys are sent to some classes and responses like one young lady’s is typical, “If my boyfriend drinks, I’m not riding with him.”
“We try to go to a school every four years so that all the students from 9 through 12 are given the message to not drink and drive,” continued Hasson. By combining educational and behavioral objectives, with emotion evoking music, audio tape recordings, and by developing a contrived “theatrical” approach to the event, the DWI Crash Team provide an effective message to students about drinking and driving.
Pre-Prom Wake Up Call
The headline would have gone something like this: Underage Drinking Causes Fatal Crash.
On May 5th, a sunny afternoon at Ripley Central School, high school students attended a Mock DWI Crash simulation, caused by drinking and/or drugs and driving. Just before upcoming prom night, the simulation was meant to present a strong message about what could, and does, happen when the partying goes too far and crosses the line into drinking and driving.
Here is what happened at the athletic field simulation that day: At 1:40 p.m. on May 5, 2011, a crash occurred at the intersection of Route 20 and Shortman Road in the town of Ripley. A call came over the loud speakers from Mayville citing a “personal injury accident.” The Ripley Hose Company fire whistle went off shortly thereafter. The Sheriff’s department arrived first on the scene and after a perimeter check, called in a Code 1041, a call for the County Coroner. Soon after, the Ripley fire department arrived. The EMT crew found a two car crash involving four Ripley students. RCS students Maggie Hammond, Becky Shioleno, Andrew Judd and Dan Dulong participated in the presentation.
The male driver, Dan Dulong, of the car that caused the accident was able to get himself out of his car, whereupon the Sheriff administered a field sobriety test, which the driver failed. He was arrested for DWI and taken away. The teen-aged driver never got to say goodbye to his friends as he was taken to jail.
Meanwhile, the EMTs assessed the situation. The jaws of life were needed to extricate one of the victims from the car and Andrew Judd was Starflighted to a trauma center. Another crash victim, Becky Shioleno, was taken by ambulance to an area hospital. The body of the single fatality, Maggie Hammond, a lovely young lady all dressed for the Prom, was removed from the vehicle and laid on the ground with a blood stained sheet draped over her. As the emergency crew worked to remove the injured teens from their cars, shocked and tear-streaked faces looked on from the student body.
Chautauqua County Coroner Warren Riles arrived at the scene to examine the body of the fatality victim, pronounced her dead and called for Mathews Funeral Home to pick up the last victim of this terrible crash. Students watched as she was placed in a blue body bag and then put into the hearse.
As the Sarah McLachlan song, “In the Arms of the Angels” played, Starflight Medevac Team Coordinator Ron Hasson explained to the students how the firefighters and police officers who had been at the scene were affected. “They’ll go to their own homes and hug their children, thanking God it was not their child. The hardest thing any of them have to do is call the parents of the victim and tell them their baby girl won’t be coming home.”
The RCS students were then directed to go back to the gymnasium for the completion of the program. Town Justice Vera Hustead appeared to “arraign” the young driver, finding him in violation of seven statutes, the most serious of which was vehicular manslaughter. Ms. Hustead explained the seriousness of the charges to the young driver, including the fact that his “rap” sheet (record of arrest and prosecution) would follow him for the remainder of his life. Any job application he filled out in the future would mean he had to divulge his arrest for vehicular manslaughter. Bail was set at $10,000 and our young driver was returned to jail to await trial, where, if found guilty, he would spend up to seven years of his life in a state prison. His life would never be the same and he would carry the guilt of that night with him for the rest of his life.
A funeral followed, complete with a casket and mourners. Kenzie Mencer gave the eulogy for her friend, and was choked with tears as the possible reality of the situation settled in. Students, teachers and staff sat in stunned silence or quietly shed tears of their own.
Chief Coroner Warren Riles addressed the teens, explaining how his job, after pronouncing the death, included determining the exact cause of death through autopsy and talking to the parents of the victim. Drugs and alcohol have always been around, and lives are lost when an impaired driver takes the wheel. A new threat to student’s safety has become popular and that is the misuse of prescription drugs. Drugs prescribed for the treatment of medical problems can be fatal when taken by others or not according to the directions. Mr. Riles tried to impress on each student how the results of their actions could cause a situation similar to the one they had just witnessed.
Photos of the “victims” are now on display in the school with the following quotes: “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” “I killed my best friend.” “These weren’t the prom memories I wanted.” And “I didn’t get to say goodbye to my Mom.”
A representative of the Sheriff’s Department said, “We’ve made this as real as possible without taking you to an actual accident scene.” The message is a powerful one.
The headline would have gone something like this: Underage Drinking Causes Fatal Crash.
On May 5th, a sunny afternoon at Ripley Central School, high school students attended a Mock DWI Crash simulation, caused by drinking and/or drugs and driving. Just before upcoming prom night, the simulation was meant to present a strong message about what could, and does, happen when the partying goes too far and crosses the line into drinking and driving.
Here is what happened at the athletic field simulation that day: At 1:40 p.m. on May 5, 2011, a crash occurred at the intersection of Route 20 and Shortman Road in the town of Ripley. A call came over the loud speakers from Mayville citing a “personal injury accident.” The Ripley Hose Company fire whistle went off shortly thereafter. The Sheriff’s department arrived first on the scene and after a perimeter check, called in a Code 1041, a call for the County Coroner. Soon after, the Ripley fire department arrived. The EMT crew found a two car crash involving four Ripley students. RCS students Maggie Hammond, Becky Shioleno, Andrew Judd and Dan Dulong participated in the presentation.
The male driver, Dan Dulong, of the car that caused the accident was able to get himself out of his car, whereupon the Sheriff administered a field sobriety test, which the driver failed. He was arrested for DWI and taken away. The teen-aged driver never got to say goodbye to his friends as he was taken to jail.
Meanwhile, the EMTs assessed the situation. The jaws of life were needed to extricate one of the victims from the car and Andrew Judd was Starflighted to a trauma center. Another crash victim, Becky Shioleno, was taken by ambulance to an area hospital. The body of the single fatality, Maggie Hammond, a lovely young lady all dressed for the Prom, was removed from the vehicle and laid on the ground with a blood stained sheet draped over her. As the emergency crew worked to remove the injured teens from their cars, shocked and tear-streaked faces looked on from the student body.
Chautauqua County Coroner Warren Riles arrived at the scene to examine the body of the fatality victim, pronounced her dead and called for Mathews Funeral Home to pick up the last victim of this terrible crash. Students watched as she was placed in a blue body bag and then put into the hearse.
As the Sarah McLachlan song, “In the Arms of the Angels” played, Starflight Medevac Team Coordinator Ron Hasson explained to the students how the firefighters and police officers who had been at the scene were affected. “They’ll go to their own homes and hug their children, thanking God it was not their child. The hardest thing any of them have to do is call the parents of the victim and tell them their baby girl won’t be coming home.”
The RCS students were then directed to go back to the gymnasium for the completion of the program. Town Justice Vera Hustead appeared to “arraign” the young driver, finding him in violation of seven statutes, the most serious of which was vehicular manslaughter. Ms. Hustead explained the seriousness of the charges to the young driver, including the fact that his “rap” sheet (record of arrest and prosecution) would follow him for the remainder of his life. Any job application he filled out in the future would mean he had to divulge his arrest for vehicular manslaughter. Bail was set at $10,000 and our young driver was returned to jail to await trial, where, if found guilty, he would spend up to seven years of his life in a state prison. His life would never be the same and he would carry the guilt of that night with him for the rest of his life.
A funeral followed, complete with a casket and mourners. Kenzie Mencer gave the eulogy for her friend, and was choked with tears as the possible reality of the situation settled in. Students, teachers and staff sat in stunned silence or quietly shed tears of their own.
Chief Coroner Warren Riles addressed the teens, explaining how his job, after pronouncing the death, included determining the exact cause of death through autopsy and talking to the parents of the victim. Drugs and alcohol have always been around, and lives are lost when an impaired driver takes the wheel. A new threat to student’s safety has become popular and that is the misuse of prescription drugs. Drugs prescribed for the treatment of medical problems can be fatal when taken by others or not according to the directions. Mr. Riles tried to impress on each student how the results of their actions could cause a situation similar to the one they had just witnessed.
Photos of the “victims” are now on display in the school with the following quotes: “It wasn’t supposed to be this way.” “I killed my best friend.” “These weren’t the prom memories I wanted.” And “I didn’t get to say goodbye to my Mom.”
A representative of the Sheriff’s Department said, “We’ve made this as real as possible without taking you to an actual accident scene.” The message is a powerful one.
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