News Release from: Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue
WESTVIEW HIGH STUDENTS EXPERIENCE CONSEQUENCES OF IMPAIRED DRIVING WITH HELP FROM FIRST RESPONDERS
Posted: May 30th, 2013 3:00 PM
Media is invited to attend
What: S.K.I.D. (Stop Kids Impaired Driving) demonstration at Westview High School
When: Embargoed until 9:00 am, May 31st to preserve element of surprise for students (simulation begins at 9:00 am)
Where: Westview High School, 4200 NW 185th Avenue, Portland
On May 31st, hundreds of students will pack the stands at Westview High School for what school administrators are calling an "assembly". Shortly after 9:00 am, the energetic buzz generated by the students is anticipated to give way to stunned silence as they watch the following scenario unfold before them.
Tarps are uncovered to reveal two wrecked cars on the high school's football field. Multiple students are "injured" and one person is "dead" on the hood of one of the vehicles. "Bystanders" call 9-1-1, the "deceased" student's parents happen to drive by and arrive to find their child dead, and sirens are heard in the distance. Within minutes firefighters from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue (TVF&R) arrive to care for injured patients and extricate victims, along with Washington County Sheriff's officers, LifeFlight, Metro West Ambulance, and a representative from the Medical Examiner's Office. Following the "investigation", one teen is arrested for manslaughter and DUII.
These live demonstrations known as S.K.I.D. (Stop Kids Impaired Driving) are both impactful and emotional as students witness firsthand the deadly consequences that can result from driving while impaired and texting while driving. And that is exactly what first responders hope for with each demonstration - that teenagers who often have a sense of invincibility and immortality will take what they experience to heart and make safe choices behind the wheel. View a simulation of a deadly car crash at TVF&R's YouTube site at: Youtube.com/user/tualatinvalleyfire.
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. The sad truth is that people die in automobile accidents every day; however, teenage drivers ages 16 - 19 die at a rate three times higher than drivers age 20 and older.
"As first responders, we have to keep warning teenagers about impaired driving and show them how the choices they make as young people can affect the rest of their lives," said TVF&R firefighter Jesse Fitzpatrick, who coordinated the event with the Westview student body leadership. "S.K.I.D. presents an opportunity to sit students down for a candid talk, tell them that we care about them, and that we want them to come home safely every day."
On May 29th, first responders received a boost for their efforts in the form of a $6,000 donation from Tigard's Landmark Ford dealership and the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation. The donation was presented by President Jim Corliss to the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Board of Directors last Tuesday night.
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