Crash pictures not pretty

BELLFLOWER — As the sounds of 911 calls boomed through speakers Monday, St. John Bosco High School students winced at the pictures of bloody car crashes.

One by one, images of mangled cars and contorted bodies caught through windshields flashed across the screen.

It is a sight often seen by Florida firefighters Scott McIntyre and Jereme Cadorette.

Through video footage, graphic pictures and a demonstration, the firefighters gave 1,200 students an inside look into the aftermath of a car crash, hoping that the program, Street Smart, will empower students to put on a seat belt and not drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"What you guys can help change today are the decisions you make," Cadorette said. "But guys, if you make the wrong decision, you're going to see another fireman and he's not going to be in the gym talking to you. You're going to be the bloodied up person on the backboard in the middle of the night screaming for him to save you."

The program is put on by Stay Alive From Education, a nonprofit group created by firefighters and paramedics in Florida's Miami-Dade County in the late 1980s. The program, sponsored by Triangle Distribution Co., a local Anheuser-Busch wholesaler, reached 100,000 students last year.

"The paramedics' real-life stories have a powerful, long-lasting impact that we hope will encourage students to be responsible about the choices they make," said Susan Sanzone, consumer awareness and education coordinator for the Triangle Distributing Co.

At Bosco, McIntyre and Cadorette strapped a student to the backboard that normally stabilizes a victim's spine.

They described how much worse a crash could be without a seat belt: the razor-edged windshield slicing at their faces, the femurs in their legs snapping like twigs and the internal bleeding. Teeth wedged into the driver's skull because the passenger behind him rammed into his head.

"When you don't hear that click behind you, you might as well put a target on your head," McIntyre said.

The pair hoped to change some minds.

"If we can change one person's behavior, it's a success to us," Cadorette said.

By Karen Robes, Staff writer
 

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