Edwards kicks off Critical Days of Summer campaign

  • Published
  • By Kate Blais
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 101 Critical Days of Summer campaign kicked off at the Oasis Community Center May 24 with presentations and interactive demonstrations from the Save a Life Tour team.

The Save a Life Tour is a travelling program that spreads awareness nationwide of the consequences of engaging in risky behavior, especially drunk driving.

"If I told you guys that drinking and driving actually kills, how many of you would actually believe me," asked Jeremiah Newson, Save a Life Tour manager, to a room of raised hands. "Then if so many people believe that drinking and driving kills, how come every 32 minutes, someone dies from an alcohol-related crash?"

The presentation continued with videos containing real-life footage of drunk driving crash victims and the aftermath of such accidents. Especially jarring was the story of Jacqueline Saburido, a young woman who was hit by a drunk driver and suffered burns all over her body, while watching her friends inside the car with her burn alive.

"I think the videos and listening to the speaker's personal experiences really helped put things into perspective for Airmen that think they can get away with it," said Airman 1st Class Joshua Case, 412th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron avionics specialist.

Col. Dawn Dunlop, 412th Test Wing commander, also spoke at the event, saying the operational risk management that Airmen exercise in the work place should be used outside of work also.

"Take a look at your environment and make a smart decision," she said. "Take time to slow down and ask yourself 'what is the real risk here?'"

Statistics show that the largest percentages of accidents occur within the 101 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, said Col. Glenn Graham, Air Force Flight Test Center chief of safety.

"The summer months are when people get out and do more activities," Colonel Graham said. "It's all about getting the awareness out. The critical age group is typically 19- to 26-year-old males, who are most likely to get involved in accidents."

"One of the great things of getting everyone together in one room," said Col. Gregory Schwab, 95th Air Base Wing commander, "is that we can do presentations that get the point across of what risky behaviors we tend to exhibit during the summer and what we can do to mitigate those risks. When you're young, from 19 to 26, you really feel like you're bulletproof. But as you get older you realize that that's not the deal at all and that risky behavior has to be managed, and you have to do things smart."