'Every 15 Minutes' program comes to Thousand Oaks High

Junior and senior students at Thousand Oaks High School received a sobering lesson on Dec. 4 and 5 on how their decisions can affect themselves and others. The school conducted a simulation to demonstrate that an alcoholrelated accident kills someone in the United States every 15 minutes.

The event was sponsored in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol, city of Thousand Oaks, Ventura County Sheriff's Department, Ventura County Fire Department, Ventura County medical examiner's office, Ventura County district attorney's office, Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center, Sierra Towing and American Medical Response

Every 15 minutes during the school day, announcements were made that a fatal accident involving a student had occurred. The students were removed from class by deputies who read an obituary written by the student's parents.

The students were made up to look "dead," and they wore a special shirt to signify their status. They circulated around school the rest of the morning but did not interact with anyone.

During the fourth and fifth periods, the juniors and seniors were excused from class to witness the response of emergency services to a simulated crash scene on Avenida de Las Flores in front of the school parking lot. Two additional students were "killed" in this accident. At the end of the day, all the participating students were transported to an overnight retreat where they heard guest speakers and wrote letters to their parents.

The school hosted a "memorial assembly" in the gymnasium on the second day of the event to recognize the two students who were "killed" in the prior day's crash, along with the 17 other students and one teacher who also were "killed" every 15 minutes throughout the day.

Assembly speakers were Kevin Drescher, supervising senior deputy district attorney Special Prosecutions Unit; Officer Tony Pedeferri of the CHP who was left paralyzed by a drunk driver while making a routine traffic stop; and two clients of the Ventura County Brain Injury Support Group.

The "Every 15 Minutes" program is designed to significantly reduce the number of teens who drink and drive.