On Thursday April 9, students from Heritage High School in Brentwood were shown a reenactment of a vehicle accident that left one student dead, two injured and the driver arrested for a Driving Under the Influence (DUI).
The simulation took place on the Heritage High School baseball field as part of the Every 15 Minutes, a National Program that teaches students the danger of drinking and driving. National statistics show that someone is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol-related car accident every 15-minutes.
Emergency responders from the Brentwood Police Department, East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, American Medical Response and REACH took part in the real-life simulation. Students who participated continued their experience with trips to the morgue, emergency room, and to the police department jail.
The car accident is part of a two-day program where a pre-selected student will “die” every 15-minutes on campus throughout the day which represents the toll from fatal drunken driving accidents.
According to the Every 15-Minutes website, the “Grim Reaper” calls students who have been selected from a cross-section of the entire student body out of class. One student is removed from class every 15 minutes. A police officer will immediately enter the classroom to read an obituary which has been written by the “dead” student’s parent(s) – explaining the circumstances of their classmate’s demise and the contributions the student has made to the school and the community. A few minutes later, the student will return to class as the “living dead,” complete with white face make-up, a coroner’s tag, and a black Every 15 Minutes T-shirt.
The students will be taken through an audio – visualization of their own death. Then each student will write a letter to his or her parents. Parents are also asked to write similar letters.
Here are some photographs from the crash scene simulation.
Editors Disclaimer: Although photographs may appear graphic to some, they are not real and are a reenactment.
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My son Vincent goes to Heritage High.He came home from school yesterday and told me about this. It really made an impact on him,shook him up pretty good , Made him think. Good program ! Thank you!