Emergency workers do all they can to assist the victims from this mock car accident that was held last week at St. Clair County High School. The demonstration was held two days before the SCCHS Jr./Sr. prom last Friday.
The demonstration depicted three high school students in a car with the driver drinking alcohol. A wreck injured the two passengers and killed the driver.
Statistics compiled by the OFD and used during the demonstration said that in the past decade, 275,000 people have died in alcohol-related accidents. In 2010 alone, 19,500 people died in alcohol related highway accidents. That is the equivalent of 50 people per day.
Forty percent of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related. Eighty-two percent of all adolescents have consumed alcohol by the time they reach the 12th grade.
Twelve percent of eighth-graders have consumed five or more drinks on a single occasion within the past two weeks.
Fatal car wrecks are the leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 15 and 24.
SCCHS junior Levi Dorsett said he had wanted to do this demonstration for several years. Dorsett heads up Saints for Christ, and they were responsible for contacting the Odenville Fire Department for help.
“I wanted to help out our school any way I could,” Dorsett said.
“It meant so much to work with these firefighters, paramedics and everyone else who was involved. If it saves one person’s life, it is well worth the effort that was put into this demonstration.”
Also participating in the demonstration were the Odenville Police Department, Lifesaver Air Ambulance, SCCHS administrators and faculty, Regional Paramedic Services, Kilgroe Funeral Home, the St. Clair County Coroner’s Office, Brooks Wrecker Service and Calvary Baptist Church.
Contact Gary Hanner at ghanner@thestclairtimes.com.
