Fulton, NY - Thanks to the efforts of the Child Advocacy Center of Oswego County students in several area school districts will soon be able to witness a powerful and enlightening presentation that can potentially save their lives and the lives of their friends and classmates as well.

Olivia Van Sanford, Director of the Child Advocacy Center of Oswego County (CAC), has announced that the agency has procured a grant that will allow them to offer mock motor vehicle accident presentations to high school students throughout Oswego County.  The CAC has partnered with the Oswego County STOP-DWI program and is planning to begin the mock DWI presentations this May.

“We are pleased to be able to make the mock DWI presentations available to our area high schools,” said Van Sanford.  “The Oswego County Child Fatality Review Team reviewed teen motor vehicle accidents over the past two years and realized that this type of presentation could have a very positive impact on young drivers.  With the assistance and encouragement of team member Mark Spawn we searched for grant opportunities that would allow us to offer Mock DWI presentations to all nine school districts in Oswego County.”

With the grant procured, the CAC contracted with retired Oswego County Sheriff’s Investigator, Jeff Bzdick who will coordinate the Mock DWI presentations and make them available to high schools throughout Oswego County.  “This is a powerful presentation that combines a dramatic example of a fatal motor vehicle accident with a moving video that makes a lasting impression on the students who see it,” said Bzdick.

As coordinator of the presentation, Bzdick works closely with Paul Stoner, administrator of the Oswego County STOP-DWI program, local emergency responders and legal professionals to ensure that the presentation is as realistic as possible.  Bzdick said that the presentation includes several phases and dramatically depicts the repercussions of a motor vehicle fatality.

“Local emergency responders such as law enforcement officers, EMTs, and the county coroner are all on site and attending to the accident victims, who are portrayed by student actors.  There is an ambulance on site and some presentations may even have one of the victims taken away by helicopter or have one of the victims extricated from a vehicle with the ‘jaws of life’,” explained Bzdick.

“We present a DWI fatality in as real and life like terms as possible,” added Stoner.  “They see it…they hear it…they smell it.  Hopefully they understand what it is all about in regards to the level of their responsibility when they are behind the wheel of a car.”

Stoner helps the students gain a clear understanding of the presentation by serving as the narrator and explaining the action that takes place at the accident scene.  “The students will see some unusual things: people trapped in a car, emergency personnel doing extrications, EMTs treating the injured, police officers with cameras and tape measures, and no one doing anything with the deceased.  I explain to them that what may look like chaos is actually a well orchestrated response as each individual knows exactly what they have to do,” he explained.

Following the mock accident scene the students move into the auditorium where they will witness the mock trial of the driver, who will be charged with criminally negligent homicide and sentenced accordingly.  The students will also view a powerful video that graphically depicts the affect a DWI fatality has on those involved and their families.

Both Bzdick and Stoner agree that based on their past experiences the mock DWI presentations leave the students with a lasting impression that hopefully has a positive affect on their driving habits.  “It is amazing to see the affect the presentation has on the students as it unfolds,” said Bzdick.  “At first the students are talking and are only casually paying attention.  However as they see what is happening and start understanding what is taking place they get quieter and quieter as they begin focusing intently on the accident scene.”

“We have never had an impolite response from any student who has seen the presentation.  We have received excellent feedback and the students have demonstrated nothing but absolute respect for what they are seeing.  It not only teaches them the reality of the consequences of DWI, it also provides them the skills and tools to avoid it.  I absolutely believe that these mock DWI presentations lead to live kids, and that’s one heck of a benefit,” added Stoner.

Van Sanford is looking forward to beginning the presentations and has established a schedule that will see mock DWI presentations in Pulaski, Sandy Creek, Phoenix, Fulton and Hannibal this year and Central Square, Oswego, Mexico, and APW in 2009.  The presentations will be seen by 11th & 12th graders and be made available to schools on an every other year basis.

“This is a very important program that can truly make a difference,” said Van Sanford.  “Teen fatalities from motor vehicle accidents are one fatality that, in most cases, is preventable.  One way we can accomplish this is through education.  We want to open up the lines of communication between parents and teens on this subject and educate them about what can happen if they do not drive responsibly.”

Located at 370 South Fourth Street in Fulton, the CAC of Oswego County is a non-profit charitable organization that provides a range of services to children who have been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused.  Working together with law enforcement investigators, child protective services, medical providers, therapeutic professionals, victim support professionals, and the district attorney’s office, the CAC maintains a well-coordinated, effective approach to child abuse investigation and prosecution, and service provision to families and individuals affected by child abuse. For more information on the CAC you may contact them at 592-4453.