Mount Si students host mock crash exercise for ‘Think and Drive’ campaign

On June 1, the students of Mount Si High School and the Snoqualmie Fire Department partnered to put on a mock car crash exercise as part of an awareness campaign to deter students from drinking and driving.

June 14, 2016 6:03 pm
Photos courtesy of Marla Gall The Snoqualmie Fire and Police departments demonstrated how they handle a car crash in front of a live audience of Mount Si High School students for a mock crash exercise during the school’s Think and Drive week to deter drinking and driving.
Photos courtesy of Marla Gall The Snoqualmie Fire and Police departments demonstrated how they handle a car crash in front of a live audience of Mount Si High School students for a mock crash exercise during the school’s Think and Drive week to deter drinking and driving.

On June 1, the students of Mount Si High School and the Snoqualmie Fire Department partnered to put on a mock car crash exercise as part of an awareness campaign to deter students from drinking and driving.

Fire Department Lieutenant Kelly Gall said the mock crash has become a tradition, done every other year. According to Gall, the department has been helping with the crash for more than 15 years.

“We do it every two years so that the juniors and seniors can see it, but it will be new for the next class so it’s fresh for them,” Gall said. “We leave it up to the students to ask what the message they want to get out is and this year’s message was ‘buzzed driving is drunk driving,’ So they had a pre-party video where they were drinking, but the driver just had one and still was impaired enough to cause this accident so that was the whole message.”

The students recreated the scene of a car crash, then the fire and police departments responded, with the same procedures they would have followed in an actual crash. Participating students wore fake blood and makeup to simulate injuries or death as a way to get the point across to the onlooking students.

“They place where they want to be, they say what kind of injuries they want to have, we have five different moulage (the art of applying mock injuries for training) people come and make-up the kids to simulate the injuries,” Gall said. “The kids put on most of it as far as getting everything ready, getting the assembly ready, letting the neighborhood know, closing the streets. I’m just in charge of the fire and police.”

Representatives from Eastside Fire and Rescue, Fall City Fire and Bellevue’s Medic team also participated in the exercise. Snoqualmie Fire received the crashed cars used in the demonstration from a local towing company.

“The kids put on most of it as far as getting everything ready, getting the assembly ready, letting the neighborhood know, closing the streets,” Gall said.

“It’s like a real car crash with graphic injuries, but we are just trying to get the message home that this is how bad it could be. I appreciate all the kids helping out and hope the kids get the message.”