Every 15 minutes, someone dies in this country in an alcohol related traffic collision. This is a reality that Cypress Creek EMS, Harris County Sheriff’s Department and Ponderosa Fire Department know only too well. An alarming number of these deaths are teens.   On April 20th, all three agencies teamed up to bring the message that "DWI KILLS" to local teenagers at Westfield High School. Deputy

"CCEMS and Klein VFD previewed a program for the community last December, called "Every 15 Minutes," Senglin said, "which provided some of the format and content for this effort with Westfield. This is a program we feel very strongly about so, when Deputy Lemon called about staging something more than just a presentation at Westfield, we enthusiastically joined in. In fact, we decided to turn this into a drill for CCEMS staff and volunteers."

"Many times teenagers will make the decision to take a drink during this time of year, maybe with their peers at the Prom or at the beach," said Deputy Anthony Lemon. "At this time in their lives, they are most easily influenced by those they think are friends. They also tend to think that they are ‘grown up.’ Unfortunately," the law officer continued, "they often find themselves in a situation where theyhave no control, they make bad judgements, and all this combined results in tragedy."

"We wanted to bring a strong cautionary message to the kids at Westfield," said Kathie Coberly, R.N. "Word gets around school when there are student problems, and drinking is no exception. We wanted to provide some vivid reasons why drinking and driving don’t mix. I am very impressed that our local agencies were willing to commit so much time and effort to helping us get the message across."

CCEMS brought two ambulances -- staffed with four medics per unit -- to the "accident scene." The CCEMS MCV1 (Mobile Command Vehicle) also made the scene. In a real mass casualty situation, the mobile command unit serves as a vital communication link between all responding agencies.

The "mock tragedy" was staged to simulate what can happen when a few drinks, young people and automobiles all converge. The program forces teens to think about not only their own personal safety, but that of those they care about, as well. It stresses the importance of making mature decisions where people’s lives are involved.

"Every spring, thousands of young lives are snuffed out on what they think is the most important night of their lives," explained Claire Senglin. "Sadly enough, prom night -- in far too many cases -- is the last night of their lives. One bad decision, the youthful confidence that they are indestructible and invincible, and -- with the screeching of tires and horrible collision of metal against metal -- it’s over. The survivors’ lives are alsoinextricably changed forever by the guilt of ‘what if?’ and perhaps by the grief of losing someone they cared about so needlessly."

"We staged a three-car accident," explained Deputy Lemon, "and we did it right in front of Westfield High. In vehicle number one, we had three WHS baseball players on their way to a play-off game. Vehicle number two was occupied by an ‘older couple’ coming from a church event. The striking vehicle carried four Westfield teens on their way to the Prom."

"The driver, who had been drinking all day," Lemon continued. "lost control and hit the other two cars, ‘killing’ two of his passengers. The driver, as often happens, walked away uninjured."
 

		To make the simulation even more realistic, CCEMS volunteers Carol Miller, David Almaguer and Charlie Hooks "moulaged" the victims. Moulage is an art. It takes the skilled hands of medics who have seen and experienced multiple trauma call in their careers to replicate injuries so precisely. Carol also provided the victims with instructions on how to act/behave with the injured they had "sustained." Without moulage, even such dramatic scenes can lose their effectiveness.
"We responded just as we would to a real traffic accident," Senglin said. "I’m sure that the sirens along with all the emergency equipment and personnel added a sense of urgency to the scene. For a lot of our volunteers, too, the staged accident was all too real.

Participating in the drill from CCEMS were Jim Jewell, Steve Tusing, Milo Sandburg, Mike Silvestre, Clayton Hall, David Hainey, Gareth O’Brien, and Lloyd Young. Frank Marshall coordinated the dispatchers and MCV1.

"From our perspective," said Westfield’s school nurse, "the event was a success. Based on what I have heard from the students, it did make an impression. In talking with the ones who played roles in the reenactment, I know the exercise will make them have a second thought before getting in a car when drinking has occurred. "
 

"While they were waiting for help to arrive," she continued, "they told me they felt very alone. Their friends were either ‘hurt’ or ‘dead’ and their parents weren’t there to help, either. This isolation, in itself, made an impression. It was very scary for them." "Westfield’s prom was held on May 1st and -- while we’ll never really know what impact the staged event had -- there were no accidents or incidents. Our kids came through safely." Coberly says she’s ready to repeat the success for next year’s seniors.

"By then," Claire said, "we hope to be able to implement the full "Every 15 Minutes" Program. This is the result we were all hoping for."

Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services -- CCEMS -- was founded in 1975 to provide top quality, dependable, 24-hour emergency medical services for residents living in the unincorporated FM 1960 of Houston, Texas. CCEMS responds to 9-1-1 medical emergency calls in a 250 square mile area of north Harris County, and serves a population of over 450,000 people. Over the last 24 years, CCEMS teams have responded to more than100,000 calls.

Today, CCEMS has 7 stations and 9 fully-equipped Mobile Intensive Care Units licensed by the state of Texas. CCEMS responds to an average of 1100 calls per month -- double the response pattern of five years ago.

Including 9-1-1 dispatch time, callers wait an average of only 6 minutes 50 seconds for the ambulance to arrive. CCEMS First Responders, trained volunteers located throughout the community, dispatched at the same time as the ambulance, often arrive on the scene within five minutes to begin providing expert emergency care.

CCEMS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit volunteer based organization that relies on contributions from area residents, businesses and civic organization for funding, supplemented by Third Party Billing for service calls in which emergency services and transport are provided.