Mock crash warns students of DUI dangers
PUNXSUTAWNEY — It’s an exciting weekend for members of the senior class of Punxsutawney Area High School, with prom coming up tonight at the Big Run Event Center.
Another event that traditionally precedes it is the mock crash, which was held in the back parking lot of the high school Friday morning.
This year, the program was sponsored by the PAHS Future First Responders Club.
The wrecked vehicles were an orange Dodge Neon and a gray Jeep Cherokee provided by Rebuck’s South Side Towing.
The program began with the crash and a bystander calling Jefferson County 911, reporting the accident. Then came the sound of the fire siren and the arrival of the firefighters aboard Elk Run’s Engine-Rescue-30, Central’s Rescue-20, Lindsay’s Rescue-40 and Jefferson County EMS, as well as police, EMTs and Jefferson County Coroner Brenda Shumaker.
Lt. Frank Wittenberg, Punxsutawney Borough Police, was first on the scene. He performed a field sobriety test and then arrested the drunk driver, who was portrayed by Madelyn Martino, president of the FFRC.
Wittenberg transported Martino to the Punxsutawney Borough Police Station to process her for drunk driving.
The driver of the Jeep Cherokee, portrayed by
Kyle Varner, was injured and taken to the hospital by Jefferson County EMS, along with the passenger in the Jeep Cherokee, portrayed by Rachael Porada.
Officer Pat Renwick investigated, and many beer cans fell out of both vehicles.
Firefighters went quickly to work with cutting the roof off of the Neon to remove a body portrayed by Maisie Eberhart, who was pronounced dead at the scene by Shumaker.
Ryan Miller, school resource officer and advisor to FFRC, said that something that was new this year was that the rescue tools (Jaws of Life) were no longer attached to a hydraulic hose dragging behind it, as they were replaced with battery-operated rescue tools.
“Everyone here is donating their time, and students get to see something up close that they don’t ever see, which is what it’s like at an accident scene and the amount of effort and manpower that goes into it,” Miller said.
The local Pennsylvania State Police also assisted with the program.
Tpr. Ronald Chewning, community affairs officer for Troop C, spoke about the horrors of drinking and driving.
“This is a mock crash, but it was very realistic; you have to remember this can happen to any of you,” Chewning told students. “We want you to have a safe, memorable prom; don’t go out and drink and drive. Besides the fact is you’re underage, you will only hurt yourself, the passengers in the car and the families for the rest of their lives.”
Chewning said state police will have extra patrols during the time for the prom with students traveling between Punxsutawney and Big Run.
Martino said she, Porada, Varner and Eberhart put a lot of work into the program.
“We love that the fire company, police department and EMTs, they all came to help,” Martino said.
Martino said she was in the back of the police car watching all of the activities.
“I thought it was really cool that they were able to do all of that in a short amount of time, with tools now being able to get right to the scene to get extracted so the victims can be taken to the hospital more quickly thanks to new technology,” Martino said.
Mackenzie Fleming, a member of FFRC, said she wasn’t sure whether it reached her classmates.
“I don’t know, some kids shrugged it off, no big deal, but I think other kids actually thought this is serious,” Fleming said.
She is amazed that police officers have to go to families’ houses in the middle of the night to inform them of a death in a crash.
“I don’t think I could do that,” Fleming said. “I guess the best advice is don’t drink and drive.”
Miller thanked Rachel Lantz and Danica Mallory for doing the makeup for the mock crash.
Other helpers included Tony Waterfall and Aiden Cameron.
The Mock Crash for years was run by the club Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Club, which has since disbanded. FFRC took over the event this year.