For as long as my family has lived in the Snoqualmie Valley, the Pre-Prom Mock DUI Drill has been happening on the street behind Mount Si High School.
It’s intense, emotional and graphic. It has shaken and shocked three of my children. That’s the point.
On the morning of May 30, 2018 local emergency response agencies – Snoqualmie Police and Fire, Bellevue Medics, Eastside Fire & Rescue, Fall City Fire Department and NorCom – all came together and partnered with Mount Si High School ASB leaders to present a dramatic depiction of the aftermath of a DUI crash.
According to the Snoqualmie Fire Department, the scene is designed to be as close to accurate as possible, with the safety of student actors and fire personnel always kept in mind. The cars were donated by Triple J towing, with vehicle damage done beforehand. All glass was also removed, making the cars clean safe for students. A safe word was also agreed on before starting – just in case students felt uncomfortable.
Juniors and seniors were brought outside, staged behind the fence along Schusman Ave. Then the accident scene was brought to life.
911 was called by a distraught mother. NorCom dispatched emergency crews just as they would with a real call (except all crews were staged near the laundromat on Railroad Ave). Sirens were heard throughout the Snoqualmie Valley as emergency vehicles responded to the tragic scene.
Crews sprang into action. Injured students – some bloody and laying on windshields and streets – were triaged at the scene The injured were rescued from mangled cars, with the most severely injured treated first and then taken away by ambulance. Deceased students were covered. Snoqualmie Police conducted an accident scene investigation.
According to SFD, during the mock accident, three students left in three separate ambulances. Three were declared DOA. The uninjured driver underwent a field sobriety test, was arrested for DUI and left in the back of a police vehicle. All of it created a very real-feeling scene, and as such, sparked intense emotions from many students looking on.
The student audience was then taken inside the gym and shown student-made videos depicting what happened away from the scene. They saw the arrest process inside the Snoqualmie Police station. They saw the chaotic aftermath inside the ambulance and in the emergency room as medics and doctors worked to save a life.
Lastly, they saw the post-accident emotional impact: the driver calling his father to tell him what had happened and the grief of one family left without a daughter.
Parent Jamie Rose participated in the simulation, calling 911 and then watching as her daughter Lexie ‘died’ in the hospital emergency room. Jamie said she was left shaken and commented, “It was truly one of the most emotional things I’ve ever had to experience. I pray to God none of us ever have to be part of it for real.”
The bi-annual Mount Si High School Mock DUI accident is designed to do just what it did Wednesday morning on a quiet Snoqualmie street: elicit intense emotions, tears, shock, and yes, fear. It provided an almost real life example – in a very graphic way – of the consequences of drinking and driving.
It is produced to remind students: “It’s Your Life, Your Choice. Don’t Take that Away from Somebody Else. Don’t Drink and Drive. Save a Life.”
You can see the post accident videos shown to students below. All photos were provided by the Snoqualmie Fire Department. The videos were provided by the Mount Si High School ASB.
