Every 15 Minutes
A Sublette County Sheriff's Office Deputy and the Grim Reaper entered a classroom every 15 minutes and announced a student death.
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Grim Reaper
The student is taken out of the class room by the Grim Reaper.
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Death Announcement
Sublette County Sheriff's Office Deputy/School Resource Officer, Joe Ahlstrom, enters the room and reads the death notice for another student victim.
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Pinedale High School Every 15 Minutes Program
by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online!
April 19, 2007
The Sublette County Emergency Medical Services (EMS), the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO), and the Pinedale Volunteer Fire Department are sponsoring an event focusing on teen awarness of alcohol-related accidents.
The program, entitled "Every 15 Minutes", is based on the fact that every fifteen minutes, someone in the United States is killed or injured by a driver under the influence. Pinedale EMT Gwen Hill organized the exercise in Pinedale.
Thursday, April 19th, the three groups were at the Pinedale High School. They pulled a student out of class every 15 minutes, dressed them in black, and painted their faces white. Then the students were instructed not to talk to anyone or talk on their cell phone for the remainder of the day. Their parents were contacted with an "official" death notice (pre-arranged). The students then returned to class. This went on the entire school day. There was a heart beat sound that came over the intercom every 15 minutes to make the students aware of how often someone dies.
At the close of the school day, the "selected" students continued with the event attending further demonstrations. They were given hands-on experience with special "drunk" goggles, simulating impaired vision affecting eye-hand coordination, then given the opportunity to try to drive a golf cart through a winding obstacle course without hitting or knocking over any orange cones. They also were taken on a tour of the local jail, visited the mortuary and picked out a coffin, and witnessed a "full code" accident victim at the Pinedale Ambulance Barn with EMS staff. At the end of the day they were asked to write a final letter to their parents.
On Friday, April 20, a mock "Memorial Service" assembly will be held for the whole student body. Students who "died" will have their obituaries read aloud. After the assembly, students will be taken to the School Transportation Facility for the final event of the program, a fatal car wreck.
The public is invited to attend the accident demonstration, which is being staged on the north side of the Bus Barn on Highway 191.
Many volunteers helped with this project. Special thanks to:
Billie Wilson, from the Wyoming Air National Guard
Ken Plum, from the Wyoming Army National Guard
(Editor's Note: We'll add to this list as we get more names of those who helped)
Photos by Pam McCulloch and Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
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