HANCOCK COUNTY — When emergency first responders loaded the girl onto the gurney and rolled it toward the waiting lifeline helicopter, a friend rushed to the scene only to be held back by officials.
The mock scenario unfolded earlier this week at the Hancock County Fair Grounds as 14 county students representing all the county high schools in the Neighborhoods Against Substance Abuse (NASA) Youth Council along with local first responders took part in a mock head-on crash.
The idea was to share the message, which was video recorded, with all county students who are about to embark on prom, graduation and the summer party season.
With fake blood on her nose and a bruise on her face, New Palestine High School senior Brianna Bastin played one of the crash victims and rushed to see her injured friend when the first responders cut her free from the mock-crash.
“I think this is a fantastic way to show youth and parents just how often this type of thing does occur in our own community,” Brianna said. “I know several students in past years have died from drunk driving, and we don’t want to see it again.”
In order to increase public awareness regarding the dangers of underage drinking and driving, officials with the Greenfield Fire Territory partnered with the NASA Youth Council, NineStar, Lifeline, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, and the Greenfield Police Department to hold the mock crash.
The event highlighted the consequences of underage drinking and driving by creating a potential real-life scenario featuring live vehicle extractions and the landing of a Lifeline medical helicopter.
“Hopefully this lesson will prevent a loss of life for our high school students and that younger population,” GFT public relations officer Luke Eichholtz said. “This is about as close to a real situation as you can get.”
Two crashed vehicles faced eachother, giving the appearance they had just hit. One car were loaded with innocent victims while the other was filled with intoxicated teens, all played by the NASA Youth Council members.
The firefighters used extraction tools, loaded an ambulance and even worked with IU Lifeline officials getting a helicopter to land for an emergency airlift. Law enforcement worked with the fake intoxicated teens, putting the driver through a sobriety test and even arresting the teenager.
Eastern Hancock junior Makenna Collins is the daughter of Hancock County dispatcher John Collins. He hears calls for accidents on a regular basis, including some for teenage drunk driving. Collins is also a volunteer lieutenant firefighter with Charlottesville and captain with Wilkinson, so he knows all too well the dangers of intoxicated people getting behind the wheel. He said he was pleased to see his daughter take part in the NASA Youth Council as well as the mock crash lesson.
Makenna noted she decided to take part in NASA because she knows how impactful a good video about the dangers of drinking and driving can be, especially if the message is coming from a peer.
“I hope my peers understand this and take the time to take this all in because this is dangerous,” Makenna said, standing beside the mock crash. “This can ruin your life or someone else’s.”
Not only was the drill an eye-opener for the students who plan to share it with classmates, but it also gave first responders a chance to get a little hands-on training with victims.
Officials with the GFT were contacted by NASA Exec. Director Tim Retherford who suggested the mock-crash scenario for the area teens. He noted the Youth Council is composed of four students from each high school, except for Mt. Vernon who only had two teenagers on the council this year.
“This is something our youth council really wanted to do because they feel like it sends a real message to their peers,” Retherford said. “Alcohol and driving don’t mix and they wanted to get that message out there.”
Ninestar video recorded the mock crash and will put together a video for each school before prom and graduation. They will also create a 30-second commercial with the hopes teenagers will pay attention to the message and avoid a real-life threatening situation.
New Palestine High School junior Nick Jackson said planning then watching the mock-crash drill unfold was pretty cool as well as informative.
“I just think trying to prevent this type of thing is really important,” Nick said. “I think our friends hearing the message from us will make a big difference and it all kind of came together.”
Eastern Hancock junior Addison Trittipo noted the mock crash was a little intimidating, but she was glad the council came up with the idea to do it.
“The scary part is we know this has happened in our county before and we don’t want to see it happen again,” Addison said.
Greenfield Fire Territory Chief Jason Horning noted first responders have used this type of exercise in the past, but that it had been a while since they worked with the NASA Youth Council to put on the mock crash.
“If we can save one life, one student, then it’s all worth getting the message out there,” Horning said. “We want the teenagers to think twice about their actions because, quite honestly, these types of accidents are not only hard on the families, but also the police officers and the fire fighters.”
Greenfield Fire Territory Lieutenant David Wickard took control of organizing the event for the students, Horning said, and did an excellent job.
Retherford noted the NASA Youth Council put together plans and activities all year long geared toward helping students make good decisions, but things like the mock-crash seem to really hit home because the scenario seems real without the real-life consequences.
“This group has been really good because they truly want to be a positive voice for their peers,” Retherford said.
