Mock CKHS car crash shows dangers of drinking and driving

SILVERDALE — A grim scene of two crashed cars and several injured and dying students was on display during a mock car crash at a Central Kitsap High School ball field May 17.

The students acted out a bloody scene of a prom night car crash to show what a typical crash was like and what the effects of impaired driving could be. Around 250 CKHS students sat in bleachers at the field to watch the presentation.

The “injured” students called for help and waited several minutes for medics to arrive. A simulated 911 call was made and a dispatcher sent medics and law enforcement to the scene.

“The tragedy … is that we won’t be here right away,” said Deputy Sheriff Mark McVey, of the minutes-long wait between the time of the crash and the time when help arrived.

Around 250 students watched a helicopter from Airlift Northwest land on the field during the mock crash.

“This is very, very common for law enforcement and emergency personnel.”

After a while, the sound of sirens could be heard and medics arrived. They assessed the safety of the scene and of the injured students They rolled out stretchers and performed CPR.

Two of the students “died” in the crash.

“The message is simple: Do not drink and drive. And while driving, put down your phone. Do not text and drive,” said CKHS Principal Stephen Coons.

After the injured had been treated and the scene cleared, there was still more work to be done, said Kitsap County Chief Deputy Coroner Tony Stewart.

Chief Deputy Coroner Tony Stewart.

“We’ve got two deceased, two people that passed away in this crash — I don’t call them accidents, I call them crashes because that’s what they are.”

Stewart said that before the “deceased” could be taken to the morgue to be weighed and tagged, he would have to speak with their parents.

“Who’s happy to have somebody rapping on their door at three o’clock in the morning? Nobody, right? I’ve been met at the door with mad dogs (and) angry people. I’ve been swung at and hit. I’ve been swung at and missed. I’ve had people throw up on my feet. I’ve had people collapse at my feet. I’ve had people slam the door in my face. I’ve had people call 911 to say some crazy person is at their door and they don’t know who it is,” Stewart said.

“And then I have to drop that bomb. Now, I’m never invited inside, so this happens on the front porch.”

Stewart said the first question parents had was usually, “‘Where is my son or daughter?’ And I tell them, ‘They’re in the back of my pickup right out here in (the) driveway.’”

The second question is, “Can I see them?”

“You saw the carnage … what am I going to tell that parent when they ask if they can see their son or daughter? It’s not my right to tell someone they can’t see their child. I’m going to do my best to prepare them for what they’re about to see if they make that decision … but there’s nothing I can do to clean that person up.”

Stewart said the condition of the body had to be undisturbed in order to gather evidence later on.

Stewart said it’s a part of his job that, unfortunately, he has to perform 20 to 30 times every year. There were “layers of destruction,” he said, as survivors, firefighters, police officers and even tow truck drivers were affected by what they saw at crashes.

Ella Herrmann, Austin Mullins, Alyssa Carter and Elena Stamerra, from left, sit in an ambulance during the mock car crash at CKHS May 17.

Former CKHS student Jessica Ricks said a real-life crash in 1999 took the life of her mother. Ricks was 7 when her mother died in a crash on Highway 3 near Poulsbo.

“My mom was killed because one man who was in his early 20s got drunk and crashed into my family van. I’ve grown up without a mom because a young person made a choice. It wasn’t an accident.

“The grief that I live with is every single day. I just got married a year and a half ago, and I had to walk down the aisle and see an empty seat that we’d saved. I had to go pick out my wedding dress with my dad.

“It was a choice. It didn’t have to happen … she’ll never meet her grandchildren. I have to watch my father grow old alone,” Ricks said.

She said the students at the assembly could make smarter decisions than that man did.

The mock crash was sponsored by the Kitsap County Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue, CKHS staff, the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington State Patrol, the Kitsap County Coroner’s Office, Airlift Northwest, Silverdale Towing and the CKHS Parent Teacher Student Association.