Submitted by the Lopez Prevention Coalition
The broken glass, crumpled metal and cries of pain were stark reminders that driving under the influence can kill. It was a message that Madeline Jordan wanted to share with her peers the day before Prom.
“It could have been real,” said Madeline Jordan, senior at Lopez School. “This really could happen on Lopez, and that’s why I did Every 15 Minutes as my senior project.”
The Every 15 Minutes program originated in Canada and was soon adopted in the United States. The program’s name was derived from the fact that in the early 1990s, every fifteen minutes someone in the United States died in an alcohol-related traffic collision.
The program is very dramatic and emotional and purposely so. Teenagers are constantly reminded about the dangers of drinking and driving. This powerful program is designed to create awareness among students that they are not invincible and challenges them to think about drinking, driving and the impact their decisions have on family and friends.
Madeline is a member of the Drug Related Education and Awareness Mentors a club at Lopez School and asked six friends, Autumn Gruenwald, Dalton Taylor, Emalie Hobi, Bree Swanson, Connor Christie and Derekk Buffum to help her with her Every 15 Minutes senior project. After meeting with her mentor, Tracie Red Elk, Madeline approached Dave Sather, the vice principal for his support in arranging for the event to take place at the school.
“Mr. Sather was great, he made it possible for the kids at our school to come out of class and see a simulated crash involving some of the students in which at least one of them is killed.” Madeline said. The simulated crash is handled as a real scenario which allows all of the students to see exactly how many other people are effected by one bad decision to drink and drive.”
Madeline who is also a student EMT on Lopez, worked with several organizations to bring together a broad coalition of support for her project. Lopez Fire and EMS agreed to use the event as a mass causality training and Northwest Airlift responded by providing air support. Sheriff Rob Nou narrated the event, and two deputies from San Juan County Sheriff Department participated in the simulated removal of an underage drunk driver from the scene. Lopez Island Prevention Coalition offered to provide such items such as T-shirts, tarps, safety googles and moulage make up. Other community members offered cars, set up time or simply to take pictures.
“It was great to see how everyone wanted to be involved,” said Della McCullough, Youth Engagement Specialist for the Lopez Island Prevention Coalition, “it shows how much people care about what happens to our youth.”
Following the event, an assembly allowed students to sharing thoughts and ideas about what they had seen. Community members who work with youth and as drug and alcohol counseling were there to offer support.
While the Every 15 Minutes program targets high school students, it benefits the entire community. The program not only saves lives, it also saves emergency services and strengthens existing relationships between the local agencies involved in the program.
