Alcohol awareness activities will include fake 'accidents' at MHHS

Throughout Friday, April 24, students at Mountain Home High School belonging to Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) and Natural Helpers will be presenting alcohol abuse awareness events.

Beginning in the morning, 30 students who volunteered to act as teens killed in alcohol related accidents will paint their faces white and wear black shirts. While they attend their regular classes, no student may talk to them, phone or text, or acknowledge them in any way.

The point of this is to impress on their schoolmates what it would be like to lose their friends to a death caused by substance abuse.

While the focus of the events will be primarily on drinking and driving, students will present information about other alcohol-related accidents and injuries that affect teens.

There will be a video and speakers discussing the consequences of alcohol abuse at an assembly and during the lunch hour students will have information booths at a health fair.

"Alcohol goggles" will be available for teens to experience what their limitations would be under the influence. The goggles distort vision and make it difficult to perform a series of simple tasks.

There will also be information about treating and preventing alcohol poisoning, and injuries and pregnancy caused as the result of being under the influence of drinking.

From 1:50 - 2:50 p.m., there will be "fake" accidents in front of the high school. The police, ambulance and fire department will be on site, as well as Mountain Home Air Force Base's moulage team, which will paint student "victims" to look like real accident victims.

Chief of the Elmore County Extrication Unit, Alan Johnson, said they will attempt to make the accident scene as realistic as possible. "We want them (students) to see what happens when we show up," he said. In addition to kids moulaged to look injured, some students will be placed along side the curb, covered by a blanket.

He said all the departments involved want the kids to see and relate to what happens as the result of drinking and driving.

The event is coordinated by high school teacher Sarah Smith, who said with Prom and graduation, there are more teens using alcohol and the student groups hope this event will make their peers more aware of the dangers involved in alcohol abuse.