By Martha B. Jacob – 

It was just a pretend accident April 28 at Ripley High School. But the emotions ran high as students  witnessed the mock prom night accident that could happen to any one of them when drinking and driving.
Craig Hauke an EMT with the Ripley Life Squad and Ripley Police Officer Corey Herren organized the event to help students  see how serious drunk driving could be.
“We set up the scene with four teenagers traveling in a car while the driver was drinking,” Hauke said. “One passenger was dead at the scene, one was transported to the hospital, one was pinned in the back seat and had to be cut out with the jaws of life and eventually taken by Air-Evac to the hospital.
“Of course the kids knew it wasn’t real, but you could just watch their faces and see the emotions. Most took the event seriously, with a few not reacting one way or another.