Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Mock vehicle crash shows risk of impaired driving

Central Collegiate students watch as members of the Moose Jaw
and District EMS and the Moose Jaw Fire Department remove a
victim from a mock car crash.

Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

Jacob Laboccetta had never been arrested before, until he played the part of an impaired driver in a mock vehicle crash at Union Hospital on Monday.

“Being arrested hurts. It’s not fun,” said the 15-year-old student from Central Collegiate. “I don’t know why anyone would want to put themselves in a position to do it.”

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Central Collegiate students watch as members of the Moose
Jaw Fire Department drill open a car door in a mock car crash.

Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

Some figures (from Ray Francis, a paramedic with the Moose Jaw and District EMS and the director of community relations):

• Saskatchewan has the most injuries per capita in Canada
• In Saskatchewan, the death rate for unintentional injuries is 40 per cent higher than the national average
• In Saskatchewan, approximately 9,800 hospitalizations from injuries occur a year, 800 a month and 26 a day. These statistics are twice the national average.
• In ages 1 to 44, the leading cause of death is unintentional injury
• People aged 15 to 24 are 2.5 times more likely to be hurt or killed in a motor vehicle crash than any other age group
• In Saskatchewan, preventable injuries cost the people of Saskatchewan more than $1 billion a year
• The survival rate of cardiac arrest from trauma is less than one per cent

PARTY program website (Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth)


More about the PARTY program from the PARTY website:


"Intentional and unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for people aged one to forty-four years of age and truly are a silent epidemic in Canada and most countries around the world.


Sunnybrook RBC First Office for Injury Prevention was established in 1986 within Sunnybrook's Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care department.  The office aims to prevent traumatic injuries and injury related mortality across all ages through community education, collaboration and awareness. 

Our office delivers multiple programs and resources both independently as well as with an extensive team of collaborators.  We currently deliver the P.A.R.T.Y. Program, work to highlight issues of pedestrian safety throughiNavigait and work collaboratively with community partners through the Toronto Area Safety Coalition." (Source: PARTY)