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MOCK CRASH STAGED BY ABINGTON TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT
TEACHES STUDENTS CONSEQUENCES OF IMPAIRED DRIVING

ABINGTON – After watching Abington Township Fire Department (ATFD) volunteers and other emergency responders pull her classmates from the wreckage of a mock accident staged at Abington Senior High School, student Daniella Monterosso had just one word to describe what she was witnessing: “scary.”

She and two other friends, Kim Parsons and Katie Rohrback, took in the scene on May 26th, when the ATFD, Abington Township Police Department and Second Alarmers Rescue Squad staged an accident to demonstrate to young people what can happen when someone drives impaired. While they were all well aware that the students sprawled on the hood of a car and on the pavement were acting and were not actually bleeding, the scene still made an impression.

“Seeing people you actually know get pulled away is pretty scary,” said Daniella. “They do this before prom for a reason.”

Her friend Katie added, “It’s like a reality check.”

The mock accident is held every year in the spring at the high school. Student actors, who are usually members of Student Council or Students Against Destructive Decisions, portray the accident victims. At the May 26th event, two cars appeared to be involved in a head‐on collision, with a bicyclist also injured in the crash. Firefighters arrived on the scene and set to work
stabilizing the cars, cutting apart the vehicles with the Jaws of Life and carefully extracting the victims so that EMTs could tend to their injuries. At least one student was pulled from the accident scene and taken away in a hearse.

ATFD firefighters Chris Simpson, Jack Guntz and Michael Jones Jr. helped stage the accident. Chris and Michael both recalled having seen the mock accident when they were in high school, and said it made more of an impact than getting a lecture about the dangers of impaired driving.

“Anyone can talk about the dangers of drunk driving,” said Michael. “But this makes them think, ‘What if?’”

In addition to the larger message of protecting student safety, the mock accident also represents a chance for young people to learn about firefighting. Members of the high school’s Firefighting Club participate in the mock accident each year, giving their classmates a chance to see what junior firefighters get to do on an emergency call.

“We can always use young members and this is one of the best ways to recruit them,” said Michael, adding that it’s also good practice for younger members. “As much as this is serious, it’s actually fun to get to utilize your skills in a setting like this.”

The ATFD headquarters is located at 1176 Old York Road in Abington. For more information, visit www.abingtonfd.org.