HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT The "mock-cident" scene was disrupted, right in front of uniformed deputies and the media, by a real fistfight that broke out between a couple of students. One was taken into custody as others watched from ringside. HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVTAbove, first responders study the scene of the "mock-cident" at Pahrump Valley High School Wednesday, April 22. More than one student seemed to be sobered by the entire exercise. When Jarid Lydon, above right, was "sentenced" to five years behind bars, it sank in even more deeply. At left. EMT Kristen Harelson prepares an accident victim for transport to the hospital. Advertisement

Pahrump Valley High School Senior Alicia Jordan recalled what it was like to be "dead" after a traffic accident, during a skit drawing attention to the dangers of drunk driving last Wednesday.

"It was awful. I laid there for probably a half hour pretending to be dead and they finally got me up and put me in the body bag, zipped it up. It was a crazy experience. We went to the mortuary and my mom had to come down and identify my body. So acting dead, she was bawling her eyes out. It was hard," Jordan said.

Students participating in the exercise had to write a letter to their parents as if they were dead, with their final words.

"It made you realize a lot to say things to people while you had the chance," Jordan said.

The next day at a student assembly at the high school, one of the students and one of the parents had to read the letter.

"The whole thing was real eye opening. It made you realize a lot," Jordan said.

Over 100 students signed up to participate in the drill, of which 25 were chosen by the student council under the program "Every 15 Minutes."

"Every 15 minutes somebody's either killed or injured in an alcohol-related crash. It took us almost, I want to say, five months to plan the whole event," said senior Samantha Reiner, organizer of the drill.

The scenario called for a car accident at 9 a.m. in which a drunk driver collided with another car, killing two people and injuring another.

One student who was supposed to be in critical condition was airlifted by Mercy Air to Desert View Hospital.

"Then, throughout the day, every 15 minutes a loud buzzer went off and we pulled a student out of class and we had a student dressed as the Grim Reaper," Reiner said.

Jarid Lydon, also a senior at the high school, played the role of the drunk driver. He acted the part, waiting for officers to arrive, failing the field sobriety test twice, then was put in a squad car.

"It was definitely really realistic. They had the fake blood and makeup on us, they had one of the firefighters put fake gashes on us. It was very, very real," Lydon said.

Students gathered in the courthouse hallway to wait for the outcome of the case late Wednesday afternoon. Lydon was sentenced to five years.

"When we had the court case, that's when it really sunk in. It was something. The parents came in, the mother of the daughter who supposedly died and she made a speech about how I was a bad person and I did something wrong and killed her daughter. It almost brought tears to my eyes hearing that," Lydon said.

"It was definitely scary. I was really scared. Like even though I knew it was fake, I still felt like I was in trouble, like I had done something really terrible."

Reiner said students who didn't see the live skit watched it by video the next day at the student assembly.

"One of the boys who was in the program told me the program changed his life. That was our goal, to reach out and touch somebody about drinking and driving," Reiner said.

Speaking for herself, Reiner said, "I would never drink and drive again after seeing that presentation. I think it scared people but it also told people how valuable their life is and other people's life is after you drink and drive."