Emergency medical professionals act out a harsh reality
Matthew Bauer
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
Western Emergency Medical Services hosted the 18th annual Mock DUI on Friday, April 24.
WEMS is an organization of volunteer first responders and EMTs who answer emergency calls on campus whenever students are present.
According to Jacob Ginglen, senior zoology/pre-med major and training officer for WEMS, the event was started in order to create awareness of the effects of alcohol on one's senses.
"It was an attempt to reduce the incidence of driving under the influence of alcohol," Ginglen said.
The event was put on for Macomb Senior High School in anticipation of their prom season.
Two vehicles were set up in Q-Lot simulating a motor vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver. The injured actors included a dead man, a person thrown from the car, a person trapped in a car and a couple with various injuries such as glass in their hand and a sore neck.
The narrator, first responder Dan Knapp, started the event by explaining the scenario to the audience and reciting various statistics regarding drinking while under the influence and resulting deaths, including that 83 percent of all drivers arrested for DUI are first offenders. Following his speech, the sirens signaling a WEMS call came over the radio and started the show.
The Western Illinois University Office of Public Safety arrived first, followed shortly after by WEMS.
Quickly, the first responders and EMT in charge raced to the most serious injury, the person ejected from the vehicle. After analyzing the scene, WEMS called for McDonough District Hospital and Macomb Fire and Rescue to respond as well.
Illinois State Police and the McDonough County Sheriff also arrived on scene, followed by the WEMS lieutenant crew and Macomb Fire and Rescue, who rushed out and started using the jaws of life to try to break apart the car and extract the person trapped inside.
Shortly after the call, MDH arrived on scene with additional hands and stretchers and began loading people into the ambulance. As they arrived, the dispatched Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter circled around the scene looking for a place to land. Following the landing, they came to the scene looking to take the passenger with a head injury who was ejected from the vehicle to the nearest Trauma-1 Center.
WEMS is an organization of volunteer first responders and EMTs who answer emergency calls on campus whenever students are present.
According to Jacob Ginglen, senior zoology/pre-med major and training officer for WEMS, the event was started in order to create awareness of the effects of alcohol on one's senses.
"It was an attempt to reduce the incidence of driving under the influence of alcohol," Ginglen said.
The event was put on for Macomb Senior High School in anticipation of their prom season.
Two vehicles were set up in Q-Lot simulating a motor vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver. The injured actors included a dead man, a person thrown from the car, a person trapped in a car and a couple with various injuries such as glass in their hand and a sore neck.
The narrator, first responder Dan Knapp, started the event by explaining the scenario to the audience and reciting various statistics regarding drinking while under the influence and resulting deaths, including that 83 percent of all drivers arrested for DUI are first offenders. Following his speech, the sirens signaling a WEMS call came over the radio and started the show.
The Western Illinois University Office of Public Safety arrived first, followed shortly after by WEMS.
Quickly, the first responders and EMT in charge raced to the most serious injury, the person ejected from the vehicle. After analyzing the scene, WEMS called for McDonough District Hospital and Macomb Fire and Rescue to respond as well.
Illinois State Police and the McDonough County Sheriff also arrived on scene, followed by the WEMS lieutenant crew and Macomb Fire and Rescue, who rushed out and started using the jaws of life to try to break apart the car and extract the person trapped inside.
Shortly after the call, MDH arrived on scene with additional hands and stretchers and began loading people into the ambulance. As they arrived, the dispatched Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter circled around the scene looking for a place to land. Following the landing, they came to the scene looking to take the passenger with a head injury who was ejected from the vehicle to the nearest Trauma-1 Center.
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