Thursday, May 21, 2026
photos by Rob Hinkal, social media specialist
Almost 300 high schoolers gather as regional agencies demonstrate their response to a simulated drunk driving crash coordinated by students in a Penn College parking lot by students in the emergency management & homeland security major.
Nearly 300 students from the Lycoming Career and Technology Center, Hughesville, attended a mock crash held recently at Pennsylvania College of Technology. The simulated event, which focused on the dangers of impaired and unsafe driving, provided a glimpse into the sights and sounds of a tragic emergency situation.
The scene was set – the driver of a black truck was intoxicated behind the wheel and hit a vehicle carrying three young people head-on. One was ejected onto the hood of the car, the driver went into cardiac arrest, and a third passenger was trapped in the back seat. Two of them would die. Onlookers observed the chaos, as emergency responders arrived and the roof of the car was cut away. On the scene were Penn College Police, Lycoming County Coroner Charles Kiessling, various fire departments, funeral directors, Susquehanna Regional Emergency Medical Services, and more.
Students in the emergency management & homeland security program at Penn College teamed up with the college’s Secondary Partnerships office to plan the event, with senior Colten C.B. Hajicek, of Williamsport, serving as incident commander.
As a paramedic, Hajicek has been on the scene of crash sites, so setting one up was, unfortunately, a very real experience for him.
“I think everything went really well,” Hajicek said. “I think it’s great for students to see what happens in a real accident. Most kids don’t actually see it in everyday, day-to-day life. It’s especially important around this time – end of the year, with prom and everything, senior events, and kids do some things sometimes. They’re going to drink and they’re going to drive. I feel like this is a great way to learn and to let kids know what can happen and what will happen if they make choices that aren’t safe. It’s meant to scare them a little, but it’s also meant to inform. One driver – just one person – caused two deaths and injuries.”
Lycoming CTC counselor Monica McCarty said the timing of the event was purposeful.
“This is a really important topic for me today because we have a lot of young people here today and it’s important to me that when they get behind the wheel of a car that they understand that it’s their responsibility to be safe,” she said. “We definitely wanted to have this right at the end of April to try to hit right before prom season, because lots of high school students go to parties or maybe would do things they wouldn’t normally do because it’s prom night or we’re going to graduate soon. And so we really wanted to have an event like this to emphasize the fact that your actions in a brief moment can have a lifelong impact for your family, for your friends, for the first responders who have to come to get you out of those situations.”
Sarah Strouse, a 10th grade student at Muncy High School, is an early childhood student at Lycoming CTC. This was her first experience observing a mock crash.
“I thought it was intense, but good,” she said. “I think it’s a really good learning opportunity, and it shows you what actually goes on. Even if you’re in that situation and you don’t know what they’re doing, it might help you know better if you’re in that situation. I think it’s really good to show this because everyone jokes about stuff like this, but it’s really not something to joke about.”
Hughesville High School senior Ethan Leslie, a construction student, said the event stirred some emotions for him, but that it’s important for everyone to be aware of what could happen because of a bad choice.
“It’s pretty easy to get places without driving, even if you are under the influence,” he said.
Following the mock crash, attendees were given the opportunity to speak with each of the responders, as well as students and faculty of the human services & restorative justice program, and experienced simulated traffic stops in the college’s Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives system.
The Lycoming Career and Technology Center serves students form Benton, East Lycoming, Loyalsock, Montoursville, Muncy and Warrior Run school districts, providing quality career and technical programs with business and education partnerships, while allowing students to remain in their high schools for core academic classes and extracurricular activities.
Funeral home directors and firefighters stand by as “victims” – played by Penn College students – are examined by emergency medical services professionals.
After cutting the top from a vehicle, emergency responders remove a well-made-up “victim.”
A high school student records the dramatic scene.
Kaylynn M. Kercher, an emergency management & homeland security student from Pottstown, applies fake injuries to a classmate.
Student actors, sprinkled in fake blood and wearing other “moulage” to simulate injuries, prepare for the scene.
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