Pictured from left are driver Scott Grant and EMT Bryan Goyette, Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad.

POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital recently hosted a “Let’s Not Meet by Accident” in conjunction with Potsdam High School and St. Lawrence County STOP DWI program.

The morning began in the Potsdam High School auditorium with retired police officer Bill Lanfear speaking to the junior and senior classes, and continued with a mock car collision in the parking lot of the school.

“If we can prevent just one collision by making students aware of the dangers of impaired or distracted driving, then we have done our job and the program is worth it,” said Michele James, coordinator of the STOP DWI program for the county.

In attendance were the Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad, Potsdam Volunteer Firefighters, and members of the Potsdam Police Department. Students saw a rescue of a car occupant, with another volunteer fatality, demonstrating what can occur during a motor vehicle collision.

From there, three groups of fifty junior students chaperoned by teachers and parents visited Canton-Potsdam Hospital where they listened to St. Lawrence County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Caringi describe what police see when first arriving on a crash site.

The group split into three, with the first meeting in the ambulance bay and a first responder demonstration by the Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad. The second group met in the Emergency Department for a demonstration on a simulator by Dr. Julie Vieth and Stephanie Rogers, RN. The third group met in the morgue for a talk led by June Wood, St. Lawrence County Coroner, who described the process of identification of remains, notifying parents, and organ donation following a fatal accident.

Each group rotated through the stations. In the afternoon, another group of fifty students repeated the program.