'Street Smart' comes to Nellis Published July 27, 2010 By Caitlin Fairchild Nellis Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- A United States Airman is back in his hometown for a party thrown in his honor. After having a few more beers than he intended, he decides to climb behind the wheel of his car, and forgets to buckle up. A crash ensues and he is thrown from the driver's seat and through the windshield. He has a collapsed lung, countless broken bones and a damaged spinal cord that will leave him physically paralyzed for the rest of his life. This is the scenario that Pat Kelly and Scott McIntyre gave to audience volunteer Airman 1st Class Andrew Murphy, a line delivery crewmember with the 57th Maintenance Squadron, on stage during "Street Smart," a presentation on safe driving July 23 at Nellis Air Force Base. The presentation at the base theater marked the beginning of a $170,000 grant from Anheuser-Busch to the "Street Smart" program to visit 50 different military installations across the United States. Mr. Kelly and Mr. McIntyre, firefighter paramedics from Orlando, Fla., represent Stay Alive from Education, which organized the program and aims to take audiences into the world of paramedics as a method of prevention. Col. Steve Winklmann, vice commander of the 99th Air Base Wing, introduced the presentation to the audience, all Airmen under age 26. "The reason you are here is because of the facts; the data shows us that people your age are primarily more likely to go out and drink and drive and have more dangerous behavior than someone my age," Colonel Winklmann said. "The reality is that we know we're not going to get to all of you. But if we get to some of you, then all of this is worthwhile." Mr. Kelly and Mr. McIntyre took the stage to introduce themselves. "We did not come here today to give you a condescending safety brief," Mr. McIntyre said. "We're just here to show you the consequences, and show the side that we see every day." After showing a five minute slide show of graphic pictures of the aftermath of violent car crashes, the firefighters discussed the causes of the accidents. "Every picture you just saw, the victim wasn't wearing a seat belt, and drugs and alcohol played a part in the crash," Mr. McIntyre said. The firefighters then began discussing the ways in which alcohol and drugs can affect the brain and alter judgment, providing stories of their experiences on call, seeing young people who exhibited poor judgment under the influence of alcohol. The presenters also dispelled several misconceptions, such as the belief that air bags in vehicles protect against all crashes and render seat belts obsolete. They then turned the presentation toward seat belts, asking the audience for reasons they might not wear them. Answers ranged from, "I don't have far to go," to Airman Murphy's humorous answer, "It'll cramp my style." After discussing and dismissing all the reasons given for not wearing a seat belt, Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Kelly decided to pull a volunteer to the stage from the audience, deciding Airman Murphy was a perfect candidate. In addition to describing the hypothetical dangerous scenario, they placed Airman Murphy on a stretcher, strapped him down and began demonstrating and explaining many of the painful procedures that the paramedics would have to perform on him to save his life from the crash. Afterwards, Airman Murphy, who in real life diligently wears his seat belt, said the presentation was eye-opening. "I've been to a lot of safety briefings and sometimes they just drag on, but this one was really good," he said. "Lying on the table with my head taped down really affected me." In the end though, Mr. Kelly and Mr. McIntyre said that in Airman Murphy's scenario, he would be one of the lucky ones. "In the United States someone dies in a car crash every 12 minutes," Mr. Kelly said. "Often it is a coin toss to see if a crash victim will live or die."
