| 'Every 15 Minutes', someone is killed due to drinking and driving, somewhere in our country. The "EVERY 15 MINUTES" program is held every year at two Carroll County High Schools and is appropriately titled to show students and parents, the causes and effects of drinking and driving. It is a wake-up call to show the reality of the damage that can be done to our families, friends and classmates, when the bad decision of drinking and driving, turn deadly.
Firefighters and EMS personnel from Union Bridge, New Windsor and Taneytown, put on the display at Francis Scott Key High School at about 1:00 PM. Students from the 11th and 12th grades, as well as several parents and school faculty, sat on a bank near the lower parking area to view the scene of a deadly Motor Vehicle Collision.
The scenario included two vehicles, a small pick-up truck and a SUV, that collided head-on. The pick-up truck had two occupants and the SUV had five occupants. The driver of the SUV was intoxicated and had already gotten out of the vehicle, filled with empty beer cans and whiskey bottles, before rescuers arrived on the scene. The front seat passenger of the SUV was mortally injured and the back seat passengers had non-life threatening injuries. The driver and passenger of the pick-up truck had serious life threatening injuries. In fact, after the passenger was removed from the truck, he went into 'Trauma Arrest' (term used for someone in cardiac arrest due to trauma).
As crews from Rescue Squad 8, Engine 102, Medic 89 and PM-58 extricated and treated the victims from the two vehicles, the driver of the SUV was given a field sobriety test and subsequently arrested by a Carroll County Sheriff's Deputy for DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). Screams from the passengers could be heard by the crowd as crews used rescue tools to cut open the SUV, something very common during these types of incidents. As the incident wrapped up, Maryland State Police officers began their investigation and the medical examiner checked the mortally injured passenger. He then brought the parents of the mortally injured victim to the vehicles side, to identify their daughter in a truely emotional moment. The victim was then removed from the vehicle, placed into a body bag, then placed into the back of a hearse provided by D.D. Hartzler and Sons. The hearse then left the scene and clean-up of the collision began.
This did not end the day for those involved. The arrested driver was taken to jail to be booked for DWI and various other charges. The entire incident and consequences, are video taped to allow students, parents and faculty, the opportunity to see what happens to those involved in such situations, including those at fault and those that are scarred for life, having to deal with a very bad moment in time. The program continued Thursday with a memorial service and assembly in the FSK auditorium. It is a wake-up call to everyone, the life changing consequences that can and do occur "EVERY 15 MINUTES".
For more information concerning the program, visit http://every15minutes.com
The Officers of the Union Bridge Fire Company would like to thank everyone who helped make this years presentation a success, including those who worked behind the scenes to support the program. |
