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May 2, 2009

Mock DWI crash stresses safe decisions

By MICHELLE BESAW

CHAZY — It took firefighters about 25 minutes to cut the roof off the 1994 four-door Oldsmobile Royal.

Within minutes, officials pulled junior Frank Garrow, 17, from the wreckage and onto a stretcher. He would be rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Luckily, the red stains on his face and clothes were paint and the mangled cars were props, donated by Pilon Transport and Towing, for Chazy Central Rural School's mock DWI crash.

As part of the district's Safe and Drug-Free Week, the Students Against Destructive Decisions, with adviser Cory Thompson, organized the mock crash to remind students, who have prom tonight, of the dangers of drinking and driving.

"We want to bring the message home that it's all about decision making," said Thompson, who also teaches math at Chazy and works as an advanced emergency medical technician and firefighter in Champlain.

"I think the kids got that message."

CPR
Students from the Chazy Drama Club participated in the event, and volunteers from Chazy Fire and EMS, West Chazy Fire and EMS and CVPH Medical Center took an afternoon to respond to the crash as if it were a real-life accident.

In the scenario, a drunk driver played by Elizabeth Dashnaw, 17, runs a stop sign on her way to drop her little sister off at the babysitter's house before the prom.

Garrow, who portrayed Dashnaw's prom date, was pinned in the Royal, which was T-boned by the oncoming 1998 Chevorlet Lumina.

Glass shattered as officials used hydraulic rescue tools to remove the victims from the two totaled cars.

Bystanders pulled senior Dylan Baker, 17, from the front passenger seat of the Lumina and administered CPR.

"19, 20, 21...," one counts as she pushes on Baker's chest.

"No pulse!" another yells.

He was later pronounced dead and covered with a white sheet.

SILENCE
The timetable of the crash was as real as it gets, Thompson said. Rescue crews worked in real time as a student called 911 to report the accident.

It took nine minutes for the first fire truck to arrive and a few minutes longer for EMS.

"In the meantime, people are suffering and potentially dying," Thompson said.

"I want them to grasp the reality of this whole thing."

And that seemed to be the case, as students from grades 10 to 12 filled the bleachers in the school parking lot, watching the performance in near silence.

"Oh my God, that's creepy," one student said.

Another teen was in tears.

'GET ME OUT'
Afterward, some of the actors shared their perception from the other side.

"When I was in the car and all crushed, I just wanted them to get me out of there as soon as possible," Garrow said. "It felt like forever."

And Baker said his experience was the "strangest thing that could ever happen" as he tried to keep his eyes closed and appear dead while the scene unfolded around him.

"It was kind of an eerie feeling."

SAVING LIVES
At an assembly afterward, Frank Mercier, an officer of the Clinton County Sheriff's Department and Stop DWI coordinator, shared stories and statistics with the students.

"It's your responsibility to keep those numbers low," he said.

State Police Officer Richard Gilmore said that a 17-year-old student actually died in the Oldsmobile Royal about a year ago.

"It's real. A little too real. We're trying to save lives," he said.

"This weekend should be one of your best memories of high school, and that's what you should remember — not one of the crashes."

Dashnaw said she definitely gained a lot from the experience.

"Before this, I would never drink and drive. But after this, I'll never get in the car with anyone (who has been drinking)."

Baker said the mock crash actually upset some of his friends.

"People kept saying they never want to bury a friend."

E-mail Michelle Besaw at: mbesaw@pressrepublican.com

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