Safety first...
Grand County High School’s junior class watched a mock car accident scenario unfold in front of the school on Thursday, April 3, two days before junior prom. The exercise involved eight seniors acting as victims who were the occupants of two vehicles involved in a rear-end collision. Multiple law enforcement agencies and rescue personnel responded to the scene, where they proceeded to treat the “injured” victims, each of whom had been prepped with makeup and fake blood. Moab Valley Fire department personnel used hydraulic tools to cut the doors and roof off one of the cars to get to a severely injured “victim.” Pictured: Jessica Valdes, who had supposedly lost her left arm in the accident, is “extricated” from the vehicle and taken by EMTs to a waiting helicopter. Other GCHS seniors involved in the exercise were Deanna Irvin, Jacob Francis, Layton Call, Brendon Henderson, Becca Farnsworth, Reyce Knutson, and Jacey Johnson. In the scenario, Francis and Irvin’s characters passed away from their injuries, while the two drivers (portrayed by Knutson and Johnson) were each put under arrest for suspicion of DUI. Grand County Sheriff’s deputy Curt Brewer, the school’s resource officer, said the annual exercise not only provides valuable training for law enforcement and emergency responders, it also reinforces the message to not drink and drive, and to always wear your seat belt. “In this scenario, the fatalities could have been prevented if they had been wearing their seat belts,” Brewer told the students. Photo by Jeff Richards