Staged fatal accident promotes teen safety
Students in BJHS' EMT Basic class simulate a fatal car crash caused by an intoxicated driver.
Bob Jones High School Emergency Medical Technician students hosted a mock tragedy on the high school campus this morning to let students know the consequences of unsafe driving practices.
The staged incident was showcased during the school’s homecoming week to get students’ attention and bring more awareness to the cause.
The scene depicted five seniors, all in the EMT Basic dual enrollment class at Bob Jones, in a minivan after a crash into a pole. Two students, SGA President Victoria Enyinda and Autumn Azizian suffered fatalities, while Daniel Knowles, the drunken driver, and Caroline Goode, were arrested for being under the influence of alcohol. Senior Jackson Keidel was taken to the hospital.
Fire trucks, a coroner’s car and ambulance were all on the scene. EMT students, along with firemen, unloaded the bodies from the van and carried them away.
“This simulation is important because a lot of times teens think they are invincible and this is great because it will help open students’ eyes to the problem,” Enyinda said before the simulation.
Senior Alex Makris played the distraught friend for the enactment.
“We all know that teen drinking is going on and we just really wanted to make people aware of what can happen,” Makris said. “That’s our president that’s pinned against the car and, in real life, that could be one of our friends, and no one wants that to happen.”
Assistant Principal Julie Finley, who helped organize the scene, said staging the event during homecoming week gets the attention of more students and sets them in reality.
“If we can simply call student attention to the importance of making good choices when driving, then perhaps the odds of having the time of their lives will increase,” she said. “Sadly to say, sometimes the greatest impression comes only after a real life experience.”
The EMT basic class is a part of Calhoun Community College. After the class ends this December, students will be able to take the EMT licensure exam and have 11 credit hours from the college.
Bret McGill, dean of the college of health sciences at the college said the purpose of the class is to promote and educate safety, especially in teens.
“We wanted to showcase our EMT students, but we also used this example to show the students what can happen if they’re going to drink or text and drive and how it can produce something like this,” he said. “We are excited our students were able to be a part of this and we hope the message got across to the student body that driving is very serious and they need to pay attention and do everything they can do to protect themselves and others.”
