As a former law enforcement officer, Amanda Oling has been the one knocking at 3 a.m. on the other side of the door to tell someone their loved one has been killed — but she has also been the one answering the door.
Oling was the guest motivational speaker at the latest offering of the PARTY (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth) Program held at the Rotary Spirit Centre May 15. The program is offered by the Westlock Victim Services Unit, but heavily involves RCMP, firefighters and emergency medical services as well as a vast array of community members including nurses, an addictions counsellor, funeral directors, a lawyer and a probation officer, not to mention the volunteers — all with the hope of impacting young minds and urging them not to make poor decisions like drinking and driving.
Grade 9 students from R.F. Staples, Pembina North Community School and Eleanor Hall School gathered for a day full of relevant speakers and activities and a mock accident where they were able to see first-hand the devastation potentially caused by one bad decision.
Firefighters extracted the driver of the other car with a hydraulic rescue tool and turned him over to emergency medical services which took him away in the ambulance.
The mock emergency page came in just after 9:15 that morning. A passerby called 911 after coming upon a two-vehicle collision and first responders were on the scene in minutes. Ambulance and RCMP arrived first, followed by the fire department.
RCMP covered one victim, who was pronounced dead on the scene, with a blanket. The driver of that vehicle was deemed to be impaired after a breath test and was taken into custody.
The frantic mother of the victim could be heard screaming as RCMP held her back from the scene.
In the meantime, firefighters used a hydraulic rescue tool to remove the doors of the vehicle to rescue the other driver, who was placed on a stretcher and whisked away in an ambulance.
Shortly after, the deceased victim was removed from the hood of the car and placed in a body bag before being transported to the funeral home.
It was a shocking, but all too real dramatization of tragedies that happen on Canadian roads every year, all due to one individual’s bad decision to get behind the wheel after they’ve consumed alcohol or drugs.
Although offered since 1994 in Westlock, this year’s edition of the program was the most comprehensive ever undertaken.
After the mock accident, students divided into four groups. One went to a station with Prairie Sunset Funeral Home’s Greta Budgen, who outlined the funeral process in an area that was laid out to look like the deceased’s funeral.
RCMP Sgt. Alex Da Silva and Const. Sam Nowak had their own station set up for students and went over some statistics as well as the consequences of being involved in a drinking and driving incident from a law enforcement perspective.
Alberta Health Services addictions counsellor Jack Adkins brought the students an addictions perspective.
Nurses from the Westlock Healthcare Centre were also on hand to talk about their experiences in the emergency room, dealing with the victims of accidents. Fiona Farrell, Brooke Clark, Tania White and Jenna Kloberdanz went over some of the procedures that a trauma patient must endure in the ER, sometimes without the benefit of pain medication.
Lawyer Graeme Harrington and probation officer Terri Smerychynski went over what to expect from the legal system after you’ve been found guilty of drinking and driving.
The students also took in a talk by local lawyer Graeme Harrington and probation officer Terri Smerychynski, who went over further legal aspects of being involved in a crash including the court and probation process and the potential of civil litigation.
Westlock County reeve Lou Hall helped organize the event and said afterwards the day may have had some graphic details, but the idea was to have an impact.
“The graphic details were something new this year, they used makeup to make it as real as possible. The RCMP, ambulance and firefighters have lived through these things. They wanted impact and for it to say ‘This is real.’ Hopefully it was,” she said.
“The day is about decisions. You decide to drink and drive.”
R.F. Staples student Kailee Martinson said she enjoyed the presentation from the nurses.
“What I took out of it was to be safe, so you don’t end up on that table,” she said. “Today, they shoved a lot into our brains and kind of crammed us. It was a lot to take in in one day.”
Bryson Hall from PNCS said he found the whole day interesting, though he agreed it was a lot to take in.
“It’s very impactful to realize the reality of it. Don’t drink and drive,” he said.
A number of Grade 10 students also took in the events of the day, having participated in a smaller scale PARTY program last year.
“I really enjoyed the RCMP presentation and I’m looking forward to the guest speaker too,” said Taig Sharp, from St. Mary School.
Brooke Page, also from St. Mary, said the mock accident scene was the highlight of the day for her, but it was all very interesting.
“You gotta think before you go driving, especially when you’re with your friends. What they’ve been saying throughout the day is if you have had a few drinks and don’t want to drive home, don’t be afraid to call your parents. They’ll understand. Call someone instead of drunk driving,” she said.
Oling started her presentation by introducing the students to 19-year-old Trevor, a real person, from Lloydminster, Sask. Trevor worked in Drayton Valley and went to the bar one night to try to make some new friends. After drinking heavily, Trevor stole a welding truck that was warming up outside his hotel in an effort to get back to Lloydminster.
She also told the students about 55-year-old Robin, who was called to a job in Drayton Valley that very same morning.
In a cruel twist of fate, the two met head-on along Highway 22, igniting both vehicles due to the welding gasses being carried in the stolen truck. Trevor was badly burned from head to toe, but lived after he was rescued by Good Samaritans.
Robin, Oling’s father, was driving the other vehicle. He died in the collision and was so badly burned his dentures melted and the medical examiner could not positively identify him for five days.
Oling told this heart-wrenching story to the students, as well as the story of how her law enforcement colleagues informed her of her father’s death.
“People really appreciated that she was open and honest,” said Hall.
