Street Smarts comes to Columbus AFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chase Hedrick
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Columbus Air Force Base Airmen saw the consequences of making bad decisions behind the wheel during a Street Smart presentation held at Kaye Auditorium on Nov. 21.

Two state-certified firefighter paramedics, Greg McCarty and Scott Neusch of the Florida Stay Alive From Education inc. gave the presentation from their point of view when attempting to save a patient's life, leaving the choices to the Airmen.

"Look, let's face it, we've all heard it a million times, don't drink and drive, wear your seatbelt, click it or ticket, drugs are bad... we've had this shoved down our throats for years," said Neusch. "We're just going to show you the consequences of what happens when you do those things and get behind the wheel, then let you make the choice, sound fair?"

Graphic imagery of real crashes and detailed stories told from the firefighter paramedic point of view showed the audience exactly what kind of injuries could be sustained when driving while impaired.

The consequences for not using a seatbelt were shown to be more than personal by the Street Smart presenters when the details of Isaac Newton's laws of physics came into play, turning an unrestrained person in the vehicle into a deadly projectile for other passengers.

Pulling a member from the audience, the Street Smart presenters demonstrated the painful procedures used by medical personnel to save the survivor of a major accident, as well as the long term healing, and in some cases, the results of those injuries that would haunt the individual for a lifetime.

The solution, the presenters said, is all too often common sense.

"Common sense tells me, everytime you get into a vehicle, front seat, back seat, just going around the corner, if there's a seatbelt in my car, I put it on. Common sense tells me that if I go out drinking I'm going to have a designated driver. If anybody deserves to have a good time, it's you guys, but do it responsibly, use your wingman program, have a designated driver," said Neusch.

"At the very beginning of this presentation we told you we didn't preach or lecture to you guys, and I really hope we didn't come across that way, it's important to us that we don't," said Neusch in closing. "We came here to give you information to make a better choice, we've done that, it's up to you guys to take this information and make these good choices."