On Wednesday, April 12th & Thursday, April 13th, Montesano Jr/Sr High School will be participating in the Every 32 Minutes program.
The Every 32 Minutes program is widely used among law enforcement in addressing reducing teen driving fatality and serious injury. The Region 2 Target Zero Task Force partner with emergency responders including law, fire, aid, prosecutors, coroners, Airlift Northwest, substance prevention and 911 to bring students a firsthand look at fatality collisions. The national statistic is every 32 minutes someone is killed by an impaired driver.
Every 32 minutes a dispatch will go over the all school intercom of an accident involving one of the preselected students who are representing victims of traffic fatalities. A sibling or best friend of the “victim” reads an obituary they have written live over the intercom. Meanwhile, in the classroom paramedics place the fatal student on a stretcher and covered with a white sheet. The student is taken to a staging area and will not return to class or have access to cell phone or social media. This continues every 32 minutes all day. During the day a large scale mock crash will occur outside with a massive emergency response including a Airlift helicopter. Some families will receive a visit from law enforcement and go through what would happen had their student actually been involved in a fatal accident.
The program is completed with an all school assembly that the parents are invited to attend. Parents speak about what that death notification was like, students speak about the experience, and real victims speak about how their lives are forever changed. Professionals speak on how to make better choices and law enforcement speaks on consequences. Data shows us this program is highly effective at reducing serious injury and fatal collisions in youth. The average reduction we experience is up to 65%. The timing of this event is during the peak season with prom, graduation, and summer months.
