(Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

P.A.R.T.Y PROGRAM

Kamloops students shown grim consequences of impaired driving

Mar 9, 2020 | 4:44 PM

KAMLOOPS — It was a sobering Monday for Grade 10 to 12 students in Kamloops, as they were shown a glimpse of the real-world consequences from poor decision making.

Classes from South Kamloops Secondary, NorKam Senior Secondary, and Westsyde Secondary were brought out of the classroom to take part in the P.A.R.T.Y program this afternoon (Mar. 9) at Royal Inland Hospital.

Paramedics, RCMP, health care providers with Interior Health, and the Kamloops Brain Injury Association (KBIA) all worked together to bring a strong message to students.

KBIA Executive Director Dave Johnson says they don’t shy away from telling students the realities of impaired driving.

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“So the whole idea of the program is to bring teenagers in, and treat them like adults, and say ‘Hey look, this is what actually happens at the hospital. This is what the police and the ambulance see when they show up at a car crash. This is where we bring them,'” Johnson explains. “The rehab department at the hospital is heavily involved — they show what happens in the months afterwards. And give them a chance to see the real consequences of decisions, and then hopefully make the right decisions about avoiding it.”

Organizers spent the day showing participants the aftermath of an impaired driving car wreck, engaging in trauma and rehab simulations, and bringing in a guest speaker who lives with a brain injury after surviving a drunk driving incident. According to Johnson, the format is designed to make students realize no one is invincible.

Mike Saat, who has been a paramedic for over 30 years, says he gets a variety of reactions after speaking to students.

“Anything from skepticism to an outright ‘Holy cow’. Eyes wide, and not realizing some of the results that happen from these decisions,” says Saat, who goes on to say that P.A.R.T.Y is also meant to get young people thinking about how their actions can impact the lives of others.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize that it effects the responders and emergency responders as much as it does.”

Johnson adds that the heavy subject matter resonated with many of the L or N drivers- who say they’ll have a new perspective the next time they get behind the wheel.

“We did the trauma simulation here — the Royal Inland trauma team did a great job — and you could have heard a pin drop in here,” he notes. “It was really focused.”

It’ll be another year before the next P.A.R.T.Y program is held, and Johnson says they hope students left with the information needed to avoid preventable tragedies on the road.