“I think it’s important to show kids what can happen when you get in a bad car accident or with drinking and driving,” said Dr. Cynthia Griffin. “I think it stays in their memories... It kind of imprints in their brains when they’re trying to make decisions.” Griffin is a certified emergency medical physician. She rode into the scene on a medevac helicopter, landing on the school’s athletic field. After the demonstration concluded, Griffin and her flight nurse showed students the inside of their aircraft, which is packed with lifesaving equipment needed for critical incidents. While the helicopter may have been the most spectacular part of the event, the majority of the work took place on the ground, with local law enforcement and emergency medical services doing everything possible to save three teens involved in the fabricated crash. “It’s an important message for the kids, and we’ve got people who are willing to step up and put it all on for us,” said District Administrator Clay Koenig. Emergency services and fire departments from Bloomington, Patch Grove, Glen Haven and others took part in the event, with the Wisconsin State Patrol, Grant County Sheriff’s Department and others also providing personnel. “These are the first people that are going to show up in the event of an accident. They’re the ones, when you call 911, we expect to show up,” said State Senator Howard Marklein. Marklein was present for the demonstration and spoke to the students afterward, recalling three classmates he lost in car accidents when he was in school. In March, Marklein introduced a bill supporting local emergency medical services in Wisconsin’s 17th Senate District. In a news release from March 19, Marklein said he had held four summits across his district with EMS personnel. He claims the bill’s provision will help “increase the quality of EMS care, grant additional flexibilities to departments and provide a thank you to our dedicated EMS volunteers.” Marklein said he heard from local constituents that rural EMS services are having difficulty maintaining numbers and recruiting, which is a critical problem for rural Wisconsin. “These are all volunteers. If we didn’t have them, I can’t imagine who would show up.” River Ridge holds a mock accident approximately every two years in the spring. Students and families have the chance to opt out of students participating in the mock accident.