The graduating class at Oilfields High School got a sobering look at the impacts of drinking and driving.
Operation Prevention, a full-day risk prevention program developed by a local community peace officer, educates students about the risks of distracted and impaired driving.
It featured the effects of a mock impaired driving accident and was presented to the Grade 12 class in Diamond Valley on May 17.
During the event, students got a first-hand look at what happens when a car accident takes place.
They saw the process from initial accident response, to trauma care and rehabilitation in hospital, to criminal charges being laid in the justice system.
Afterwards, students listened to the experiences of first responders and heard from a local trauma survivor about the choices and events that led to their injury.
“This is a situation I go to all the time,” said Gerry Rooke, the deputy fire chief for Diamond Valley Station 2. “These sorts of decisions make impacts on others, sometimes strangers, family members, friends.
“And these are decisions that are life changing, for the entire person's life.”
Local agencies involved in Operation Prevention included peace officers, RCMP, firefighters, Alberta Health Services, the Diamond Valley Hospital, Family and Community Support Services and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).