Every 15 Minutes at Wes Watkins Technology Center

Wes Watkins Technology Center (WWTC) and Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) combined resources to participate in a national campaign against drinking and driving entitled “Every 15 Minutes.”

The “Every 15 Minutes” campaign originated in the 1990s when statistically, someone was killed due to an alcohol related accident every 15 minutes. Students from the WWTC’s Digital Media program filmed, edited, and produced a video for the campaign.

Sharing a common goal to reduce alcohol-related incidents among youth, several agencies volunteered their services to assist with this project. Those involved include OU MediFlight, Air-E-Vac, Holdenville General Hospital, Hughes County EMS, Town & Country Auto Salvage, Hudson-Phillips Funeral Home, Holdenville Fire Department, Hughes County Coroner, Hughes County Sheriff Department, Hughes County 911 Service, Holdenville Police Department, Holdenville Mayor and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

Scheduled during the month of May, the focus of the program is on high school juniors and seniors to encourage them to think about personal safety when alcohol is involved, especially during those statistically dangerous occasions of prom and graduation.

Students from nine area schools were featured in the film in an effort to touch those individual communities by using familiar faces. Students from a drama class, Key Club members, and a basketball coach and his family were used in the major scenes.

Filmed at a mock party involving the consumption of alcohol, a group leaves the scene of the party. While not paying attention to his driving, the teenage driver appears to have a head-on collision with the vehicle of the coach, his wife and their two small children. As a result of the crash, there are four fatalities, including a small child, and the coach is left in a quadriplegic state. Paramedics, police officers, firefighters, Air-E-Vac helicopter, morgue, emergency room and jail employees were all involved in the filming of the accident scene and subsequent jail scenes.

The day before the video is shown at the all-school assembly held at WWTC; uniformed officers remove pre-selected students, every 15 minutes for an hour, to participate in an offsite retreat. The officer will read an obituary explaining the circumstances of their classmate's demise and the contributions the student has made to the school and the community.

Mock death notifications are posted and gravestones placed in front of each school for the entire student body to see. During the retreat, students listen to guest speakers, counselors and victims of drinking and driving related accidents. Perhaps the most difficult assignment for those participating in the retreat is to write a letter to their parents and friends, as though it were their last time to speak to them.

The assembly consists of a mock funeral service, the video and guest speakers including students, police officers, and hospital personnel who will share their traumatic stories of dealing with kids killed in accidents. This emotional and heart-wrenching event illustrates to students, the potentially dangerous consequences of their use of alcohol, regardless of how casual they believe their use may be.