The Willow Glen Resident

Graphic lesson in life and death hits WGHS

By Rebecca Wallace

It won't be a pretty sight, but Santa Clara County Fire Capt. Joe Viramontez hopes that simulating a fatal drunken-driving accident on the Willow Glen High School football field will hammer home this crucial message to teens: drink and drive, and you could get killed.

On Friday, May 29, at 9 a.m., the fire department will bring in firetrucks and smashed cars to dramatically act out a crash and rescue scene complete with victims being extricated with "the jaws of life," said Viramontez, a Willow Glen resident. AMR West Paramedic Services will demonstrate how patients are medically treated on the scene.

Then survivors of drunken-driving accidents will speak about their own painful experiences. "They get hit with a real-life scene, then the speakers, then they can come down to the track to see the car," Vira- montez said of the students participating in this "Operation Outreach" program.

The program also comes to high schools in Cupertino, Santa Clara, Saratoga and Morgan Hill, and Viramontez hopes to expand it into all Santa Clara County high schools.

Viramontez says he started this program six years ago, inspired by a harrowing 1987 experience. That year, he was the first firefighter to reach Los Gatos High School student Brandon Silveria, who was seriously injured after driving under the influence and crashing into a tree.

Brandon remained in a coma for several months and had to learn how to walk and talk all over again. Now he and his father Tony travel to different high schools to speak about the dangers of drunken driving.

Viramontez says he plans to include counseling and informative literature as part of the "Operation Outreach" program as well.

For more information about the program, or to become a private or corporate sponsor, call Viramontez at 294-6567.

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