Hiwassee Dam – An all-too-real looking scenario took place Friday behind the Hiwassee Dam School.
About 12:08 p.m., a mock call went out over the radio on a separate channel calling for emergency personnel to respond to a two-vehicle accident involving patient entrapment.
By then, a large crowd had arrived, which was actually made up of students from the school. As they watched the drunk-driving scenario from the bleachers unfold before them, some students were moved but all were watching with seriousness.
The staged area involved two vehicles, one of which rolled over. It was apparent one subject had been thrown through the windshield and was realistically positioned in the middle of the parking lot. Fake blood covered the victims, pavement and vehicles involved. Several other patients were trapped inside the vehicles.
Emergency vehicles and personnel arrived on the “scene,” including Cherokee County Emergency Medical Services, law enforcement, fire trucks from different departments with extrication equipment as well as a hearse from Cochran Funeral Home that would later remove the deceased victim from the road.
At one point, Melissa Hawley, a woman playing the part of the deceased victim’s mother, came from the side of the parking lot, screaming and crying for her son. She appeared inconsolable, as would be the case in a real-life situation.
Cherokee County sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Tucker tried to calm the woman down through the whole process while maintaining her safety and distance from the accident scene.
“It kills you inside. Once the scene is cleared you can explain to them that you’re not trying to keep them from seeing their loved one, but it’s important at the time to keep them away from the scene until you can get things under control,” Tucker said.
Eric Spalding, a firefighter with the Ranger Volunteer Fire Department, also works with Cochran.
“This is great practice as we’re all continuing to learn, and it teaches kids the results of drinking and driving – from a death in a wreck to how it can hurt families,” he said. “We’re just trying to give the children knowledge.
“It’s just a scenario, but this really happens. I see it a lot. It’s sad that families have to go through this with drinking and driving. We’re just trying to prevent it.”
Ranger Fire Chief Mike Taylor also teaches public safety at Hiwassee Dam, and it was his students who wanted to do the scenario to bring awareness to drinking and driving after losing two students in a real-life vehicle accident just two years ago. Taylor agreed, as he wanted kids to see things from a first responders’ point of view.
Alexis Parker is a ninth-grader at the school.
“It makes me glad that they are doing this because of a past experience in my family,” she said. “It makes me more hopeful that it doesn’t happen again.”
Eleventh-grader Leonard Hickson lives near Copper Basin, Tenn.
“Kids need to be smarter. We’re too young to be doing all that anyway,” he said. “If you’re ever in that space you need to call someone, you don’t need to go out and drive, that’s wrong. You’re putting yourself and anyone else in danger and that’s just very wrong.”
Cherokee County Commissioner Jan Griggs was there to watch the scenario.
“This brings back a lot of memories, not good ones. If this training exercise reaches and saves one student, one child, one family member, it’s worth it,” she said. “This is so important, and the volunteer firemen and women that work out here and do this day after day is a testament to the training they’ve given to the students in our community.”
Hawley, who portrayed the grieving mother, brought tears to Taylor’s eyes, as he sees the heartbreaking effects of drinking and driving.
The part of the deceased victim was played by Avery Taylor, a ninth-grader at Hiwassee Dam. He summed the scenario up by simply saying, “Don’t drink and drive. It’s just not worth it.”
At the end of the scenario, Taylor pleaded with the students not to drink and drive.
“If you’re in a situation and need a ride, call me,” he said. “Please don’t put me in the position where I have to come out and do this on you.”