Trauma Bear:
Provide teddy bears and other age-appropriate toys to children, who have been involved in a traumatic experience (accidents, violent crimes, death etc.). The “Trauma Bears” are given to children in hopes of softening the impact and changing their focus to a comforting object during a difficult situation. Every 15 Minutes:
Educate and challenge youth to think about drinking, driving,
personal safety, the responsibility of making mature decisions and the impact their decisions have on family, friends or others. This includes a two day program called the "Every 15 Minutes", which is directed towards high school students. This program consists of a mock driving under the influence (DUI) crash involving participating students where the fire department, paramedics, police officers and coroner personnel respond to the scene. One or more students are transported to the coroner's office and one student is arrested and taken to the county jail. Additional students called, "The Living Dead" get removed from class every 15 minutes by a grim reaper, representing every 15 minutes a person is killed in an alcohol related motor vehicle crash. The parents of the participating students are given a death notification despite them knowing their child is alive and safe. The family of the students that were transported to the hospital and the coroner's office respond to the locations and see their children as if they were genuine crash victims. A video crew films the emotional events during and after the DUI crash. The parents go to a "parent's retreat" and the participating students go to a "student's retreat", where they further learn about alcohol and other drugs, the meaning of their choices and to reflect on the day's events. The next day, the participating students, parents and the entire student body gather for a mock funeral service. A video of the prior day’s events is shown. After the program the participating students and parents reunite in hopes they will share and reflect on days’ events.
