Grim Reality hits hearts of campus members

Paramedic Kristal Claxton said seeing young people hurt or killed in accidents is a part of the job that people in her field never really get used to.
“It’s particularly sad when we find young people fallen victim to their own decisions, especially when it ends up fatal,” she said.
However, Claxton and other volunteers hope that the upcoming Grim Reality program will help young people weigh the consequences of the decisions they make.
Grim Reality is a presentation whose purpose is to demonstrate the consequences of destructive decisions students make on a daily basis. The event began two years ago when Claxton and fellow paramedic Charlotte Lawrence attended a conference on how to prevent children from injuries.
Claxton said teenagers make up more than 50 percent of injuries that paramedics see; and while preventative measures are often discussed with younger children, the teenage age range has not been getting a lot of attention.
“We never saw very much out there offered to prevent injuries in teenagers,” she said.
With Baldwin County being home to teenagers and college students alike, Claxton said there was an opportunity to reach a large audience with the project and try to put a “human face” on many of the tragedies that have happened.
At the event, several scenes are performed that realistically portray accidents occurring from destructive decisions. It not only includes drinking and driving, but also touches on subjects like speeding, drug use, violence and suicide.
“We’re still tackling the same issues we have in the past,” she said, though several of the skits are new and improved this year based on suggestions from people who have taken part in the past.
GC&SU’s own Jennifer Brooker, Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs, has been involved with the project for several years.
“It’s a good project,” she said. “It’s a great presentation.”
Brooker said parents who have a child who is a preteen, a teenager or who is driving should definitely attend the event.
“It’s gripping, and I don’t understand how people can walk away without shedding one tear,” she said.
Volunteers for the event include emergency and medical service personnel from throughout Milledgeville, Baldwin and Putnam counties, and a host of other entities. Claxton said it takes about 225 people to put the event on each year. Students volunteer from GC&SU, Georgia Military College, Baldwin High School and Putnam High School.
“I would just encourage people to come out so that they can see things from our perspective,” she said. “[The volunteers] do it because they care about what happens to the students. They don’t want to see these things happen again.”
Claxton said that each year at the end of the event, pledge cards are given out which are signed voluntarily and anonymously. She said about 80 percent of people sign the card, pledging to avoid destructive decisions.
Claxton said one thing that is important to the volunteers is to be able to set up a memorial for people who have died from preventable injuries.
“This is something that our community has been touched by,” she said.
She said the memorial is a way of remembering those people. At the end of the scenes, people are led through the memorial which usually includes names of those people along with newspaper articles and any other mementoes that people would like to leave to honor their memory.
“We hope this can be something that can be an ongoing thing,” she said.
The event is held at Walter B. Williams behind the walking track at 7 p.m., Oct. 30. In case of rain, it will be rescheduled for Nov. 5 at the same time and place. Claxton said the event is best suited for people who are 13 and older. It takes about 45 minutes to go through the trail.
For reservations or more information, Claxton may be contacted at 478-288-0708. A $5 donation is requested. All proceeds go back to the event and to the Oconee EMS for Children.
Claxton said if the event can change the decisions people make for two months or for even two weeks, then at least for that time they will be a little bit safer.
“Hopefully, this is something that will touch them enough to last a lifetime, so for that lifetime they’re a little bit safer,” she said.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 24 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry