A SusanvilleStuff Photofeature
by Jeremy Couso
The “Every 15 Minutes” program came to Lassen High School last week; a CHP sponsored enactment of a drunken driving accident on Arnold Field complete with host of personnel and equipment from local agencies that helped to give the grim scene a sense of reality.
Every 15 Minutes is a two-day program focusing on high school juniors and seniors, challenging them to think about drinking, driving, personal safety, the responsibility of making mature decisions and the impact their decisions have on family, friends, their community, and others.
The program is very dramatic and emotional – and purposely so. Teenagers are constantly reminded about the choices they have to make involving alcohol and how many others are affected by their decisions. They know the intellectual statistics. However, many teens share the belief it will never happen to them.
This powerful program is designed to create an awareness among students that they are not invincible. This program helps open emotional doors, and they experience firsthand how their actions affect the lives of so many other people.
The aftermath of tragic collision played out before the students on the field and involved first-responders like the City Fire Department, the CHP and SEMSA Medical, Lassen County Sheriff’s Office, the Susanville City Police, volunteer firefighters, Cal-FIRE and a lot of others.
Students portrayed victims of the crash as the Grim Reaper walked among the smoky wrecks with emergency personnel separating the injured from the dead.
