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Pinedale Online > News > April 2007 > Pinedale High School Every Fifteen Minutes Program

Every 15 Minutes. Photo by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online.
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.

Grim Reaper. Photo by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online.
Grim Reaper
The student is taken out of the class room by the Grim Reaper.

Death Announcement. Photo by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online.
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.
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!



For more information about the national organization
  • www.every15minutes.com - Every 15 minutes program website
  • www.pinedaleschools.org - Pinedale High School
  • Sublette County Sheriff's Office
  • Pinedale High School Crash Demonstration - Story and photos - Pinedale Online!, Aprill 20, 2007

  • Death Notice. Photo by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online.
    Death Notice
    After the student is dead, there was an offical notice posted on their locker. Some of the students said this is what impacted them the most.

    Lost his arm. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Lost his arm
    Cody David (L) and Casey Terrell (r) try on an extra arm at the Pinedale Ambulance Barn.

    Timed exercise. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Timed exercise
    Students only had a certain amount of time to make specified shapes out of the pieces during the eye-hand coordination exercise with the "drunk goggles."

    Manual Dexterity. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Manual Dexterity
    Students put on the "drunk goggles" then had to try and fit pieces together to make certain shapes.

    Trying to fit the pieces. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Trying to fit the pieces
    The "drunk goggles" made it very hard to fit the pieces together.

    Made a circle. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Made a circle
    He did it!

    Not as easy as it looks. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Not as easy as it looks
    Keegan Latta tries to fit together pieces to make a shape, but the "drunk goggle" glasses make it very hard to see.

    Drunk Driving Course. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Drunk Driving Course
    Students had to try to navigate the golf cart through the winding course while wearing the "drunk goggles", trying not to hit or knock over any of the orange cones.

    Injured Cone. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Injured Cone
    This cone was a casualty. "Just because you back the car up doesn't make them any less dead," said the instructor.

    Becca Driving. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Becca Driving
    Becca tries to navigate the course wearing the "drunk goggles".

    Dead Cone. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Dead Cone
    "You didn't just hit that one, you killed it!" said instructor Billie Wilson, from the Wyoming Air National Guard.

    Adding injuries. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Adding injuries
    Nancy adds fake blood and makeup to accident victim Amber.

    Fake blood. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Fake blood
    Fake blood is applied to the accident victim to add realism to the demonstration.

    Head Injury. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Head Injury

    Victim ready. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Victim ready
    Accident victim Amber climbs onto the gurney for the ride to the clinic.

    Patient. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Patient
    Student Amber Hurne played the part of the dead person in the "full code" demonstration.

    Accident victim. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Accident victim
    The 16-year old unidentified accident victim is strapped onto the gurney and taken to the mock clinic.

    Explaining the accident. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Explaining the accident
    Pinedale EMS Supervisor Wil Gay explains the accident scenario before the victim is brought into the "clinic". The victim wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled.

    Bringing in the victim. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Bringing in the victim
    The victim is brought into the "mock" clinic.

    Working on the victim. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Working on the victim
    EMS crews work on the accident victim in the mock "clinic". The exercise was supposed to be held at the real clinic, but a real patient came in forcing the demonstration to be moved to the Ambulance Barn.

    Called at 1758. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Called at 1758
    The 16-year old victim could not be saved. Time of death was 5:58 PM. Officials try to identify her so they can notify her family.

    Cut away clothes. Photo by Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online.
    Cut away clothes
    After the demonstration, accident victim, Amber, shows her fellow students her clothing that was cut off her while EMS crews worked on her to try and save her life. She died in the accident.

    Mock Car Crash. Photo by Pam McCulloch, Pinedale Online.
    Mock Car Crash
    As a continuation of the two-day "Every 15 Minutes" alcohol awareness program, the Sublette County EMS, Sheriff's Office, Pinedale Medical Clinic, and their families held a mock car crash just outside of Pinedale at the Sublette County District #1 bus barn on Friday. The entire Pinedale High School student body was bused out to witness a re-creation of a car crash rescue.
     
    Pinedale Online > News > April 2007 > Pinedale High School Every Fifteen Minutes Program

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