As Gloucester High School seniors wearing goggles to give them the sensation of being impaired weaved go-carts around an obstacle course in the school’s parking lot, Gloucester Fire Engine 1 arrived to demonstrate how firefighters cut the doors off a car involved in serious crash using cutting and spreading tools.
Senior Safety Day was held Monday morning in advance of prom to highlight the need for seniors to keep safe during this celebratory season.
“We are thankful to the Gloucester Police Department and for the District Attorney’s Office for helping set all of this up today,” Gloucester High Senior Assistant Principal Allison Alves said, “and it’s a great message to all of our students about safety and just taking your time during this exciting time of year to take care of each other.”
The highlight of the morning’s activities was the firefighters making short work of removing the passenger doors from an Audi supplied by Tally’s Truck Center.
“We are going to cut the car up, we are going to show you what it takes to get into a car,” fire Deputy Chief Tom LoGrande said. “These guys are pretty good, so it might look easy. It’s not and it’s a lot harder when there’s people in (the car) and the car’s upside down and it’s 3 o’clock in the morning.
“I know it’s never going to happen to you guys, but I’ve been doing my job a little while and I’ve seen guys your age on the other side of this.”
“It was a really good demonstration,” senior Ariana Scola, 18, said, “and it was a lot of fun today.
“Don’t drive under the influence,” Scola said was the message that was being conveyed. “You can always find another ride.”
Senior Charlie Terelak, 18, said he was impressed by the demonstration.
“It shows you what happens when you have all the doors off if you get into an accident,” he said. “It shows the dangers of getting into an accident, you know. It could simulate real life and you don’t want that to happen — especially going into the finish line of senior year.”
The event, organized by School Resource Officer Mike Scola, followed a talk by Essex County District Attorney Paul Tucker.
Beauport Ambulance and Massachusetts Army National Guard personnel were on hand along with the Prevention Team from the Gloucester Department of Health, including Regional Prevention Director Chelsea Goldstein-Walsh, Youth Development Coordinator David Tucker, and Prevention Coordinator Daniel Liebert.
Firefighters Doug Sherman, Wellington Machado and Jeff Romeo and Capt. Nicholas Ouellette joined LoGrande in demonstrating how crews use hydraulic cutting and spreading tools to pry the doors off a car to free crash victims.