'Don't drink and drive' lesson details painful result

The Virginian-Pilot
December 13, 2006

When I walked into a conference room in the Norfolk Marriott Waterside on Tuesday, I could see why the kids at the front of the room let out an occasional giggle.

On a stage, two paramedics from Florida were rigging Johnny Davenport, a 16-year-old Norfolk Collegiate School student, into some of their most cumbersome lifesaving gear.

It looked uncomfortable.

The men were from Florida SAFE Inc., a nonprofit organization that teaches students and the military about the effects of unsafe driving. The presentation was part of the annual meeting of the I-95 Corridor Coalition.

The men simulated the results of a drunken driving crash, where a hypothetical kid wasn't belted in.

Bad news, Johnny.

"The next thing I've got to do, is get Johnny out of this thing that used to be a vehicle," said Scott Neusch, an engineer and paramedic.

He went into detail.

Between video clips and props - such as a needle-like device so huge it looked like a silver fire poker - it was pretty effective.

This wasn't a scare tactic, where a couple of old dudes yell and scream at teens. The paramedics just made the case. It was engaging and frighteningly clinical.

They demonstrated the sounds a tool makes when it enters the chest.

The popping noise gave me that sick feeling I get when something happens to somebody's fingernail in a horror movie.

"I've got these little things that look like Chiclets," Neusch announced.

"You know what those are, Johnny?" asked Vince Easevoli, a fire lieutenant and executive director of the nonprofit.

"Teeth."

Correctamundo, Johnny.

Later, the trainers produced a catheter.

"You want to guess where this is going?" Easevoli said.

Kids giggled.

This process was described in clear, unpleasant detail.

So, you know the lessons. Buckle up. Don't drink and drive.

You've heard it before and you'll hear it again.

"It was really powerful," Johnny told me. "It's not censored. I think a lot of people get it."

He didn't care for being in all that gear.

"It's scary. You couldn't move at all."

It's scary that kids who drink aren't the only ones to worry about.

Worry about the club crowd regular who figures it's no problem to drive home. The sports fan who thinks it's only beer. The wine and cheese snob who should've stuck with cheese.

Finally, worry because we need guys to tell our kids what it feels like to almost die.

Reach John Doucette at (757)446-2793 or john.doucette@pilotonline.com
 

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