MDG Moulage experts help local area teens

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Maj. Edwin Santos, 375th Medical Support Squadron, applies moulage to a Belleville East High School student who was made to look like she suffered a concussion while sitting in the passenger seat of the car struck by a teenage drunk driver. Students volunteered for the event to show their peers that drinking and driving is serious and that teenagers are not invincible.

MDG Moulage experts help local area teens

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Belleville Fire Department firefighters remove the glass from a vehicle involved in a simulated alcohol-related car accident before removing the top of the car to access one deceased and two critically injured victims. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Herard)

MDG Moulage experts help local area teens

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- Staff Sgt. Eric Bookout, 375th Medical Operations Squadron, cuts a Belleville East High School student’s clothing to simulate a broken bone. Sergeant Bookout used a stick to look like a bone sticking out and applied fake blood around the opening. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Herard)

MDG Moulage experts help local area teens

BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- A student from Belleville East High School is simulated being arrested by a local area police officer on suspicion of drunk driving. The scenario was put together by peers and local area responders that drinking and driving is serious and that teenagers are not invincible. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Herard)

Medical Group moulage experts help teens understand dangers of drinking and driving

Published April 14, 2010
By 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
375th AMW

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Members of the 375th Medical Group applied mock injuries, or moulage, and expertise on how to act injured to junior and senior students of Belleville East High School April 8 to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving.

The scenario, called "Broken Hearts," involved a simulated alcohol-related crash where a drunk driver was taken into custody, one passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, and one critically and two seriously injured passengers were taken to St. Elizabeth's Hospital. The Belleville Fire Department, Med-Star Ambulance, Belleville Police Department, ARCH Air Medical Transport and the St. Clair County Coroner responded to the scene.

About every 30 minutes, a student was removed from a classroom and the fire department chaplain read an obituary to signify the statistic that someone dies in a crash every 30 minutes.

"Year after year we support the Broken Hearts program and we are reminded how important the program is to the students in attendance," said Debra Ord, 375th Medical Support Squadron. "We are always honored to support the community."

The event was held before prom and also during Alcohol Awareness Month in an effort to prevent unnecessary deaths.

All emergency responders volunteered to help with "Broken Hearts."