Kris Miller
Hiawatha World
A mock driving under influence (DUI) event will be taking place on Wednesday, April 23 at 2 p.m. at Hiawatha High School.
This event will involve all the students at the emergency management services gathering at the HHS parking lot for a DUI simulation. Mock DUI coordinator Jodi Twombly said that this simulation is set up during prom week because of the increased risk of drinking and driving during that week. Twombly got involved in this project because she had experience working in emergency room trauma for 24 years. She currently works at Amberwell as a physician assistant, certified (PA-C).
“What we do is that we have four students from Hiawatha High School that will serve as actors in the event,” Twombly said. “And their parents are also all involved as either actors or witnesses to the event.”
Twombly said that Town and Country EMS, Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Hiawatha Fire Department, Hiawatha Police Department and rescue squad, Kansas Highway Patrol and a Topeka-based Life Star of Kansas Air Medical Services Helicopter also play roles in the simulation.
To add to the authenticity of the scene, Scott Herlinger of Hook Up Towing will bring in two vehicles to be crashed together and placed in the parking lot area close to the USD 415 bus barn. The four student actors are given makeup to simulate injuries and there will also be a narrator who will help tell the story about the accident and emergency management services personnel will arrive to assess the scene to help begin the scenario.
“I think we will also carry this into our hospital training as well,” Twombly said, regarding medical staff at Amberwell Hospital being present and receiving training from the mock DUI event. She also added that one of the “victims” will be used as a patient to be transported over to the hospital, with another actor being portrayed as severely injured and transported to a trauma center by helicopter. Another mock DUI actor will be deceased and be transported to Chapel Oaks Funeral Home. One actor will be arrested for being DUI and be taken to Brown County Jail.
“It’s training for our local EMS as well,” Twombly explained. “They use the Jaws of Life to extricate the injured individual. They set up the landing zone for the helicopter. They work together with all the different units to spearhead this as if this is a real trauma activation. So it’s good training for them and it’s a great experience for our student body to see the consequences of poor decision making.”
This mock DUI was not be limited to showing the consequences of drunk driving, as it would also apply to scenarios involving distracted driving, where drivers would be distracted by phones and other devices. Twombly added that the student would be brought into the auditorium, a panel of experts, Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill and Brown County Judge John Weingart will be present. A member of the KHP will also speak at the presentation. The presentation will also feature a speaker who was involved in a drunk driving accident and caused the loss of life of another individual. This speaker will talk about how this tragic event led to him spending time in prison and how it altered other parts of his life.
“It’s a very moving experience for everyone involved, not just to our emergency workers and our students involved but usually teachers and parents,” Twombly said, in reference to teachers and parents losing students and loved ones to drunk and distracted driving incidents. “It’s pretty real.”
The public is invited to come to this event.
