Audin Rhodes/MDN
From left are Kaitlin “Cabbage” Lucy, 17, Peyton Davidson, 16, Xylia Michels, 16, Ophelia Hoffer-Gray, 17, and Daisy Arthur, 15. The five students were the student actors during Minot High’s crash demonstration Thursday.
A powerful educational demonstration was hosted by Minot High School on Thursday, graphically illustrating the immense dangers of drunk driving through a mock crash in Jim Hill’s parking lot.
The event came to be when Minot High School professional education teacher, Alexis Hute, collaborated with Paramedic Captain Luke Zabka of Trinity Health to create a program similar to the ones Hute had witnessed in California schools.
“I’ve had students impacted by drunk driving and I’ve had personal experiences with family,” Hute said about her motivation to make this program a reality for Minot students.
Hute reached out to Zabka and the two coordinated with various service partners, including Trinity Health First Response, the Minot Fire Department, the Minot Police Department, NoDak Towing and Recovery and Minot Central Dispatch.
“We all work very close,” said Zabka about the collaboration among Minot’s first responders. “We’re all on a first name basis and we help each other out every day.”
Audin Rhodes/MDN
Minot Fire Department cuts open a vehicle during a mock crash demonstration hosted by Minot High School Thursday.
The event showcased from start to finish what happens when a crash is called in to dispatch, from the initial desperate calls to the call center to the dispatching of emergency personnel to the arrival of those personnel on scene.
When police arrived at the scene of the mock crash, they assessed vitals on a student actor lying on the asphalt in a fake pool of blood. The fire department arrived soon after and began cutting into the vehicles to rescue the other student actors. The paramedics took victims on stretchers to safety. The police questioned the persons involved in the accident.
“They got through the car door pretty fast and they assessed the situation pretty fast,” said Kameron Foley, a 21 year-old former Minot High student.
“More people, now than ever, are not paying attention while they’re driving,” said Teagan Bennett, 17. For Bennett, the most unsettling part of the event was hearing the second 911 call over the speakers because the distressed sobs and hyperventilating of the caller sounded just like her friend.
“There are more ways now to not drive when you’re under the influence, but people still do it. You can call an Uber instead of just the taxi. It’s much easier now but people still don’t use those services,” Bennett said.
A group of students passing by the event were initially struck with fear because they were unsure if it was real or not. As the girls approached and were informed the event was a staged demonstration, they continued to watch and felt the emotional impact of the event’s realism.
“My heart sank when I saw what was happening,” said Destiny Withers, 13, one of the students. Withers’ mother was recently in a car crash so she understood the emotional impact of the scene, as did her friends with her, Aubrey Walter, 13, and Abigail Belgarde, 17. Walter and Belgarde are sisters who lost their mother and baby brother in a car crash three years ago.
“I hope I’m never part of anything like this, to be honest,” Foley said about the mock incident before him.
Audin Rhodes/MDN
From left are Kaitlin “Cabbage” Lucy, 17, Peyton Davidson, 16, Xylia Michels, 16, Ophelia Hoffer-Gray, 17, and Daisy Arthur, 15. The five students were the student actors during Minot High’s crash demonstration Thursday.
Audin Rhodes/MDN
Minot Fire Department cuts open a vehicle during a mock crash demonstration hosted by Minot High School Thursday.
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