Police restrain a dazed accident victim from interfering with the responders. (Steve Browne/VCTR) 

By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

    Police, fire, ambulance and rescue crews rushed to Central Avenue in Valley City on Tuesday afternoon to find a scene of carnage, two wrecked cars and bodies lying in pools of blood. Fortunately, it was a training exercise.
    Members of the Valley City Police and Fire Departments, the Valley City/Barnes County Ambulance Service and Valley City/Barnes County Rescue combined a training exercise with a graphic demonstration of the perils of drunk driving for Valley City High School juniors and seniors as part of Operation Prom Night.
    The scene was organized in cooperation with Valley City High School and demonstrated the tools, techniques and procedures used by police, fire, emergency medical and rescue personnel to secure a scene, stabilize the injured, get victims out of wrecked cars and begin the accident investigation.
    Eight VCHS seniors, in prom clothes and  gruesomely made-up with theatrical blood and blue-tinged skin, served as casualties in wrecks donated by Truck And Auto Salvage.
    Rescue Lt. Scott Magnuson said, “This was practice for us and to show kids, this is the real world. This is a town of 7,000 people, these are their friends and it would be terrible to come up and find your best friend’s kid.”   

See Wednesday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record for full story and photos. 

Student volunteers stage a horrifyingly realistic accident with a donated wreck and “blood” made from water, food coloring and corn starch. (Steve Browne/VCTR)