Two dead and two flown by medical helicopters from the scene of an accident caused by a drunk and drugged driver.
That was the scenario for a mock accident held behind Sandoval High School on Friday for Sandoval, Odin and Patoka students.
Brenda DeWeese who helped put together the program says their goal is to have students think about the consequences of their actions.
“Change the decisions that you make, and you can change someone’s life in the matter of one decision,” DeWeese said. “Please don’t drink, drive, do any kind of illegal drugs, text, or do a TikTok challenge while you’re driving.”
Marion County Coroner Claude Howell pronounced the two victims dead, saying it’s all too familiar to real accident scenes he has been called.
“Really that’s our whole goal, is just to help someone to think and be safe,” Howell said. “We want them to have a great time, but we want them to be safe, and we want them to go home after this is over.”
The Sandoval, Odin, and Patoka Fire Departments, United Medical Response ambulance, as well as ARCH and Air Evac medical helicopters all provided equipment and manpower to help the accident victims. Sandoval Fire Chief Scott Towler says the mock accident also serves another purpose.
“It’s also kind of a recruitment thing,” Towler said. “They can see some of the stuff that we do and we hope to find someone who gets some interest in what we’re doing and sees everything we can do. Volunteerism in fire departments has gone downhill. It’s hard to get people to volunteer anymore, and we hope this kind of helps get some new fresh faces.”
The event concluded with a mock funeral for one of the girls who died in the crash.
