Mock car crash shocks

By Brittany Hogan

The scene outside in the parking lots between the Baron Forness Library and the Van Houten Dining Hall was a most gruesome one on Thursday, Oct. 15.

Blood was smeared everywhere, with mangled car parts and the lights of emergency vehicles blinking in the cold rain.

On one of the nastiest evenings of the current semester, students watched a car wreck play out, right in front of them, in pure horror.

Two students looked like they had been seriously injured.

"Oh my God," some of them gasped, hands to their mouths.

The good thing was that it was all staged.

The mock car wreck is an annual event around campus, put on as part of Drug and Alcohol Awareness Week.

It is a joint effort between the Emergency Services Organizations (ESO) and the Edinboro Volunteer Fire Department to educate students about the dangers of driving while intoxicated.

Erik Lyszaz is the president of ESO.

He spoke with the Spectator while the drama unfolded.

"The mock crash has been put on every year around this time for the fourth year in a row," he explained.

The students involved in the crash were Sahar Herbol, John Gadley,

Crystal Stolfus and Brandon Bidwell as patients.

Despite the uncooperative weather, Lyszaz believed the event to be a success. "We usually draw a decent crowd," he said.

"It takes quite a bit of effort and time to plan and coordinate the event. (You've) got to organize a car, fire person, EMS, police, coroner, patient, approval from appropriate agencies and locations," he said.

But the effort always pays off in the end. Many students had a hard time believing that the crash wasn't actually real, because of the level of authenticity the volunteers had labored for.

A crowd of morbidly-interested onlookers had formed on the grass.

"A lot of people keep asking," said a sophomore that would only identify herself as "Megan."

"I think they did pretty well," she said, on whether the crash conveyed a real scene to her.

As she talked about the crash, a girl stopped her, as if to prove her point.

"Do you know what happened?" she asked, examining the fake carnage.

The mock crash served as proof of what happens when students make the sometimes fatal error to drink and drive.

The ESO was established approximately five years ago by the fire department and EMS personnel who were attending the university.

"We usually do the mock crash every year and the organization members are active personnel for the Edinboro Volunteer Fire Department," Lyszaz said, giving the background for the organization.

The event was a focal point of National Collegiate Awareness Week.

To find out more, visit their website at www.acha.org/NCAAW06.cfm.

OCTOBER 21, 2009

Brittany Hogan is me. Kelly never changed this glitch on the website. DAMMIT KELLY