ALAMOSA — This week, an annual event known as “Mock Prom Crash” was held on the campus of Alamosa High School. The event – as the name implies – is staged during the week of Alamosa High School’s prom in hopes of reminding students that drinking and driving can have damaging and sometimes deadly consequences.   

Lt. Williams Squires, formerly with Alamosa Police Dept and now with the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office, planned the event “from beginning to end” as he has basically done since the event first started being staged.  

With assistance from RETAC (Regional Emergency Trauma and Advisory Council), Squires coordinated with every agency in Alamosa, including the Alamosa County Sheriff’s Office, Alamosa Police Department, Alamosa Fire Department, the coroner’s office, Alamosa EMS and the Department of Fire Prevention and Control. 

REACH Air Medical Service provided a helicopter as part of the event and the trauma coordinator from SLV Health Regional Medical Center stepped in to “set the scene” (including, Squires said, “fake blood” for the kids.) An automobile that had been involved in an accident was on the set to give a complete picture of what could happen. 

“We staged it in the high school parking lot because that’s where the kids always hang out, not just after prom but pretty much every weekend. That’s just what they do and, sometimes, they drink,” Squires stated. 

“In this scenario, the kids started doing donuts, hit a pedestrian and rolled their car. Mayor Coleman agreed to be the pedestrian. So, REACH came in, and Mayor Coleman was loaded into the helicopter and flown out.” 

Two students agreed to play the fatalities who were in the vehicle and were actually placed in body bags. 

“We handle it like we would handle a regular crash. The students all came out and watched the staging while we narrated what was going on, explaining to them every piece of what’s happening, what the different first responders are doing, what our roles are,” Squires stated.  

There is also a discussion after the staged event is over where the students are briefed on how the consequences don’t end with the injury and loss of life that can happen. 

“We tell them how the accident impacts every kid and their families,” Squires stated. 

Squires added how the accidents they encounter can also give first responders PTSD. 

“I almost teared up because we had a fatality on the weekend, and you can’t help but start thinking about the real incidents when they happen,” he said. 

When asked how students watching the staging event were impacted, Squires said, “We don’t talk to the kids who are watching, but we talk to the kids who are role playing. They told us it was scary and pretty realistic.” 

The goal of the annual Mock Prom Crash is to impress upon students something that could save their lives or the lives of their friends. 

“We hope that it teaches the kids to think about what they’re doing. Don’t drink and drive. It’s that simple,” Squires stated.