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Graduating students explore consequences of distracted driving

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On Thursday, May 30, the graduating students of Espanola High School took part in a mock distracted driver event.
It is the seventh year teacher Dean Riggs has organized the event and the second year emergency staff at Espanola Regional Hospital and Health Centre have taken part. School staff, paramedics, police and Bourcier Funeral Home also took part in the exercise. Then, on June 6, a video put together by Jane Battistelli, chief nursing officer and director of clinical services, was shared with the students, the media and other guests.
The video was a first-hand, graphic account of everything that occurred from the time of the accident to the arrest of the student responsible. The student driving the vehicle, was played by 18-year-old Cori Garcia. While texting she strikes and badly injures a pedestrian, played by Thomas Morrow.
Morrow is taken by ambulance to Espanola Regional Hospital and Health Centre. Gilles Carriere, physician attendant, was there to receive the patient. Also on hand were: Tammy Small, clinic manager for the emergency department, and nurses Matthew Laurenti, Michelle Parker and Kathy Nicholson.
The emergency room team immediately got to work on the patient. He has sustained massive trauma to his chest and has a fractured pelvis. They check his breathing and blood pressure. He is having trouble breathing. A chest tube is inserted and two bottles of O negative blood are ordered. In the meantime, they give him an infusion of a whole unit of saline.
Everyone in the emergency area is working very quickly and calmly to try and save their patient. Observing their process are Riggs and twenty students. Alarms start going off as the patient becomes critical. A breathing tube is put in place and his pulse is closely monitored. The pulse rate is very erratic and his heart stops beating. The team initiates CPR and a Code Blue is called. There are no signs of life. When the physician cannot detect any cardiac sounds the team announce the time of death.
The entire scene with the trauma team was very realistic. Every activity was performed as it would be for an actual accident victim. Now it is the duty of the attending physician to inform the mother of the accident victim that her son is dead. His mother, played by Theresa Laurenti, is hysterical. She demands to see the girl who is responsible for her son’s death. Fortunately, the police are present as well and keep the two women apart.
The mother is allowed to see her son’s body. As she begs him to wake up, the male police office, played by OPP Sergeant Rob Forcier tells her that Victim Services will help her through this crisis.
The driver of the car has only sustained a bruise on her forehead. She is discharged from emerge and handed over to police. She is questioned by the female police officer, played by OPP Constable Marie Ford.
The driver tearfully admits she was texting when the accident occurred. No drugs or alcohol were involved. She was advised that she was being charged with criminal negligence causing death and her cellphone was taken into evidence. She will be going to the police station. Her rights are read to her and she is asked if she wishes to call a lawyer.
It was hard not to feel sorry for the girl as she tearfully asks, “What’s going to happen to me?”
She was informed that she would be taken to bail court, and her licence would be suspended. She would not be allowed to operate a vehicle until her case was over. She would be fingerprinted and photographed and the vehicle impounded. The police woman was sympathetic to the driver’s obvious distress, informing her she understood how difficult this was for the girl. Ford advised her again to retain a lawyer. She will not be allowed to speak to her father until after bail court. At that point the driver was led away in tears.
Ford took time in the video to address the problem of distracted driving. She pointed out that there are many people impacted by one stupid little text: the family of the victim, hospital workers, paramedics, police and bail court. It has a high impact. Workers at the hospital would also be traumatized by the death of the young victim. An accident of this kind also leaves a lot of work for the police to do as they must collect all of the evidence to support the charge. They must be methodical in order not to miss any evidence.
Sergeant Forcier also spoke about the effect of this senseless accident on the parents of the victim. Sometimes, they will physically assault the police in order to get to their loved one. It is also difficult for paramedics who must deal with the result of accidents all of the time. They do their best to try and keep victims alive. Exercises like the mock safe grad event are important to remind young drivers about safety behind the wheel.
“Distracted driving has replaced impaired driving and seatbelts as the number one cause of death on our highways.”

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