An empty Keystone Light was strewn across the dashboard as firefighters stabilized victims’ heads and necks onto backboards. The passengers’ lifeless bodies were placed onto stretchers outside of Campion Hall last Wednesday, coloring the unseasonably warm afternoon with a dark reality.
As paramedics treated the victims covered in blood, Fairfield security officers encouraged students to step closer to get a better look. The mock DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) accident was set up to demonstrate the consequences of driving drunk.
Every year there are an estimated 1,700 deaths from drinking by college students ages 18-24. The severity of drunk driving may have been more realistic as students solemnly watched firefighters climb over broken glass and saw off the hood of the impacted car.
“People don’t realize how real it could be and that it could be you,” said Katie Hart ’08.
Chris Tasca ’09 thought the accident was “informative” by showing the “real procedure.”
“There’s this idea that ‘it could never happen to me, that I’m invincible’, but it could,” he said.
Other onlookers said the scene was “intense, scary, and eye-opening.”
Brian McHugh of the Fairfield Fire Department said the mock accident included one dead on arrival (D.O.A.) and five patients. The D.O.A. was “the sober student driving through campus.” The unharmed drunk driver was “combative with police,” according to the EMT, and was arrested.
“You can picture yourself as a part of it,” said Ryan DelVecchio ’09. “There’s a range of emotions.”
The scene got increasingly serious as two men in black suits came out of the hearse to take away the “dead” body covered in a gray blanket and a helicopter came to airlift the injured to a hospital.
“I never thought an accident was so involved,” said Sarah Howe ’07 who arrived at the scene right after the first ambulance came. “They have to do so many things so save someone,” she said.
FUSA president Jess DiBuono ’06 said the intention of the mock accident was to “raise awareness about how serious the consequences really are” of drinking and driving. “Our university is not immune,” said DiBuono. “It’s happened here before and we don’t want to see it happen again.”
“We’ve been lucky so far,” said Sergeant A. Krshisezki of Fairfield University Public Safety, noting that he had only seen a few alcohol-related accidents on campus.
But he did say there have been a lot of serious accidents right outside the Fairfield gate, on North Benson Road, after people were coming back from a night of drinking.
AMR Paramedic Supervisor Patrick Cleary said the drill was “good practice and training for all the agencies involved.” He hoped the scene would be the eye-opener that it was.
“Unfortunately people don’t take it seriously until it happens to them or someone close to them,” he said.
Cleary said that most fatalities or critically injured people in this area have unfortunately been Fairfield students.
The volunteer victims were part of the Fire Science Club at The University of New Haven. Some of the students were aspiring firefighters while others were looking into arson investigation or related fields.
Rob Babcock ’09 said being part of the accident was “a little scary.”
“You don’t know what’s going on, there’s lots of weird noises and you’re covered,” he said.
Fortunately no one was actually hurt last Wednesday, although it was a grim preview of what could happen after a night of partying.
Leave a Reply