 On May
15th and 16th, 2002, the Old Town Police Department will be offering an emotionally charged drinking and
driving campaign at the Old Town High School. “Every 15 Minutes” is designed to
impress upon junior and senior high school students the potentially dangerous, and
unfortunately deadly, consequences of impaired driving. The name of the program
“Every 15 Minutes” was adopted from the fact that every 15 minutes someone dies
from an alcohol related traffic accident in the United States.
On the first day, May
15th, the program will begin with students being removed from class by the “Grim
Reaper”. One student will be removed every 15 minutes when the bell chimes on the
intercom system. The students, which were selected beforehand, will represent a cross
section of the entire student body. Once the student is removed from the class, a
uniformed police officer will enter the classroom and read an obituary that was prepared
by the “dead” student’s parents. Shortly thereafter, the student will
return as “the living dead”; with white painted faces and white “Every 15
Minutes” t-shirts. The “living dead” will not speak or interact with other
students for the remainder of the school day. As this is occurring at the school,
uniformed police officers will make death notifications to the parents of the “living
dead” at their home or place of work.
At 12:00 PM there will be
a mock motor vehicle collision involving two vehicles in front of the Old Town High
School. All Juniors and Seniors will experience first hand the harsh reality and
sensations of being involved in a fatal traffic accident. One occupant will be deceased at
the scene, one occupant will be airlifted with serious injuries, and a third will be
transported by ambulance and will be deceased upon arrival at Eastern Maine Medical
Center. A fourth occupant will be treated and released, and the operator of one vehicle
will be arrested for operating under the influence of alcohol and taken to the county jail
and booked on an OUI charge. The accident will be investigated by the Old Town Police
Department with assistance from other agencies involved in the program. EMS and fire
services will be provided by the Old Town Fire Department and LifeFlight.
Program participants will
be taken to the Old Town Airport for an impaired driving exercise with “Driver’s
Edge” driving school. During this exercise students will employ fatal vision goggles
and perform various maneuvers with an automobile to illustrate the effects alcohol has on
an operator of a motor vehicle.
Later in the evening
participants will assemble for an overnight retreat. The retreat will simulate the
separation from friends and family. Police officers and counselors will be on hand during
the duration of the retreat. Each student will write a letter to their parents beginning
with, ”Dear Mom and Dad, every fifteen minutes someone in the United States
dies from an alcohol related traffic accident, and today I died. I never got the chance to
tell you…….” Parents will also write similar letters to their
children. These letters will be read on the following day at a school assembly.
On the morning of May
16th there will be a mock funeral assembly at the Old Town High School. This will begin
with a brief funeral service for the two deceased students. Speakers will include
students, parents, police personnel and may include other key note speakers. An emotional
presentation will be offered by a parent who lost a teenage daughter to a tragic
automobile accident.
The focus of this
emotional, heart-wrenching event will be to guide the audience through the devastating
effects of losing a friend or loved one. This program will open student’s minds to
think about drinking and their personal safety, as well as the adult responsibility to
make mature decisions where human life is at stake.
We would like to extend
an invitation to you to attend the funeral assembly on Thursday May 16th
2002 @ 9:30 AM at
the Old Town High School to witness this event first hand. If you would like to attend
please R.S.V.P. (207) 827-6358. Officer Debbie Holmes is available to answer your
questions and provide additional information.
Any
questions can be sent to Officer Debbie Holmes
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