RHS SADD MEMBERS PRESENT "MOCK DWI CAR CRASH"
and Bobby Petrocelli, Author of "10 Seconds"

"Within each of you is the power to make good decisions . . . .
Your future depends on it!" Bobby Petrocelli

Also See: riverhead.local VIDEO of the MOCK DWi car crash at RHS.

     Friday, May 13th, 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM at RHS (starting in the auditorium) and then moving outside to School Street, the RHS Students    Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) presented a Mock DWI Car Crash. THIS ASSEMBLY was FOR THE JUNIORS AND SENIORS.

With the cooperation of the Riverhead Police Department, Riverhead Fire Department, Riverhead Ambulance Corp., Suffolk County Police Aviation, Central Suffolk Hospital Emergency Room, Tony Gallo Automotive and Dynamic Auto, Riverhead High School's S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions) chapter, under the guidance of Amy Doucette, staged a dramatic "Mock DWI Car Crash" at Riverhead High School on School Street on Friday, May 13th.

In an effort to educate their peers about the consequences of drunk driving, every two years SADD students reenacted the results of a DWI crash--from being extricated from the vehicle to being taken by helicopter to the emergency room, which was simulated on the stage of the school's auditorium by a team from the Central Suffolk Hospital Emergency Room.

The simulation starts in the auditorium where the juniors and seniors in the school listen to the sounds of a party and then the decision by the driver to drive home with a car full of kids--all of whom have been drinking. The sounds of the crash and the voices of those who are injured is followed by a simulation of the scene of the accident on the street next to the high school.

The students watch as the ambulances, fire department, and rescue workers work to extricate the students from the car using a saw to remove the windshield, and the jaws of life to take off the door and the roof of the car. Students are taken out of the car on stretchers and one is flown out by helicopter. The shaken driver (Juan Rodriguez) is made to walk the line and then taken away in handcuffs by the police. In this year's reenactment, the teens smash into a second car driven by Garrett, an expectant father. His wife, who is 9 months pregnant, and the child she is carrying are killed on impact.

The final scene is back in the auditorium where one student is taken into surgery (Jen Bliss), and another student (Jordan Lacombe) dies in the emergency room. Jordan's mother is called to "come to the emergency room."

"This is a very dramatic and very powerful simulation of a scene that happens every day," states Mrs. Theresa Drozd, the District's Substance Abuse & Violence Prevention Coordinator, who helped coordinate the effort. "If we can prevent even one student from drinking and driving and possibly dying, all of this will have been worth it."

Special thanks go to the H.B. Ward Audio Production crew, who helped pre-record the audio portion of the Mock DWI presentation, riverhead.local for their video of the MOCK DWI, All-State Insurance for the $1,000 grant to refurbish the SADD sign at the entrance to the HS parking lot, and all the local rescue, police and hospital personnel and organizations, whose participation made this presentation so powerful. PLEASE DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!

SIMULTANEOUS wIth the MOCK DWI CAR CRASH for Juniors and Seniors, SPEAKER BOBBY PETROCELLI GAVE A PRESENTATION ENTITLED "10 SECONDS" for Freshmen and Sophomores.

Bobby Petrocelli's story is one of personal triumph and hope following a devastating tragedy in his life. One night he went to bed in suburban America, a happy man with a loving wife. But when he woke up dazed in his kitchen, his wife was dead and his life forever changed. The pickup truck that crashed through his bedroom wall was driven by a man who was more than twice legally drunk. (See http://www.10seconds.org/bobby.htm)