‘Don’t drink and drive’
Avella High School hosts mock car crash before prom
Avella Area High School and first responders staged a mock crash at the high school on Tuesday, two days before the annual prom to emphasize the importance of not driving drunk on prom night, or anytime.
Math and special education teacher Erika Minch, sponsor of Avella’s Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club, which organized the event, said the mock crash lets students see the consequences of bad decisions involving alcohol, and hopefully prevents them from making them.
“If I can save even just one child, then all this work was worth it. These kids are worth it,” said Minch, noting the students planning to attend the prom will sign the Prom Promise to refrain from drinking, taking drugs and distracted driving on the big night.
Two cars were set up on the football field, staged to look like a drunken driving accident. Avella students played parts in the fatal head-on collision – one car contained four prom-bound teens who had been drinking before they got into the car, and the other car had two fathers who had picked their two daughters up from a birthday party.
One teen, a passenger in the car driven by a drunken driver played by Cameron Ullom, a junior and SADD vice president, died at the scene, and the two girls who were returning home from the birthday party also were killed in the accident.
Deputy Rob Dorcon of the Washington County Sheriff Department administered an on-site field sobriety test to Ullom, similar to what would happen in a real crash.
Firefighters used the jaws of life to cut and tear off cars doors so they and EMS responders could access patients in the vehicle.
An Allegheny Health Network medical helicopter landed on the football field, where first responders prepared to load one of the critically injured dads, played by Brayden Fuller, into the helicopter to transport him to a Pittsburgh hospital.
The SADD members and first responders who took part in the event – Slovan/Smith Township, West Middletown, Avella, and Mt. Pleasant fire departments, UPMC and Fort Cherry ambulance services, along with the sheriff’s department and AHN Lifeflight – hope the students took the message to heart.
“It’s really important to get the kids not to drive drunk, and to show them the consequences of it,” said Tom Krenn, deputy chief of the Smith Township Volunteer Fire Department. “When you’re in a vehicle accident, especially when there’s alcohol involved, it’s devastating. This (mock crash) shows you what we have to go through to get the people out, and the things we do to get them out and get them to a hospital and save their lives.”
According to SADD statistics, 54% of students drink more than four drinks on prom night, and whether students drink and drive on prom night or are distracted, they are 48 times more likely to be the victim of a fatal car crash.
“You risk killing others and ruining lives,” said narrators Fiona Collins, a ninth-grader, and Skylar Kearns, a 10th-grader. “Don’t let it be you. Don’t drink and drive.”
Sara Decker, a sophomore SADD member who played the role of a passenger in Ullom’s car, said she believes the mock crash made an impact.
“Getting to see everything in person – the sound of the fire trucks, the firefighters, the helicopter landing – it’s eye-opening. It brought a reality to it, and definitely raised our awareness,” said Decker.
The event took considerable effort and cooperation from multiple departments, and Ullom said he and the SADD members were grateful they turned out and helped stress the importance of keeping safe on prom night.
“It was very emotional,” said Ullom. “My heart was pounding, even though I knew I was OK and that we were putting it on for everybody. Having all the first responders here heightens the sense of it being real, and it makes everybody think about the decisions they make and what they should be doing.”