High school stages heartbreaking enactment to bring home the reality of drunk driving accidents WEST MILFORD Students looked on in gruesome fascination last Thursday morning as the high school back parking lot became a bloody crime scene. Organized and executed by Supervisor of Health and Physical Education Peter Anzelone and West Milford Police Officer Steve Blacksmith, the enactment included students actors, real crashed cars, stage blood, a hysterical mother and a complete complement of responders, including a hearse to carry away the “dead” girl. It started in an assembly during which students Stephanie Irvin, Kevin Jacimas, Christina Toale and Andrew Steimel acted as if they were drinking at a pre-prom party. The juniors and seniors then filed outside to see the same four students in a van which had apparently smashed into a sedan. Teacher Mike Blakley played the part of the victim in the sedan. Steimel, the drunk driver of the van, emerged without injury, but Toale was killed and the other two students injured. Starting with a loud audio crash, the program went through each step as it would happen in an accident. First the 911 call for help, then the waiting. Finally, the far-off sound of a siren. The police and ambulance responded, then the fire fighters, who cut the roof off the sedan to remove the victim inside. Eventually, the injured were all transported and the deceased was loaded into the hearse. In the final scene, Steimel, who insisted he had nothing to drink, was administered a sobriety test and arrested. The enactment was followed by three speakers. Dr. Diane Sidoli told how being hit by a drunk driver on a sunny September afternoon has changed her life from one of a healthy, active mother, wife and veterinarian to one filled with adversity as she struggles to deal with the loss of her legs and many complications of additional injuries. Lt. Tim Storbeck of the West Milford Police Department then spoke about the pain of having to notify the next of kin about fatalities. And Bill O’Brien from the North Star Heli-Vac talked about working at a job where a shift when no one dies is what makes a good day. The enactment was part of an ongoing attempt by the Safe Driving Task Force to teach teens awareness and safety on the road. In an ironic twist, five of the students in the audience were involved in a roll-over accident on Saturday night. Most of the responders had been involved in the enactment. There was no alcohol involved and although the students were sent to the hospital, there were no life-threatening injuries.