Students learn about police work, crashes at West Penn camp

Sirens sound off as the West Penn Fire Company No. 1 firefighters and Penn Mahoning Ambulance workers show up at the crash scene on the Commonwealth Charter Academy’s property.

The door of the sedan is heavily damaged, so the firefighters have to tear the vehicle apart before the emergency medical technicians make their way in to rescue the victim inside. She is quickly ferried over to the waiting ambulance, which would have taken her to a helicopter, had the whole ordeal been real.

Thankfully, it was just another day at CSI Camp.

West Penn Police Department’s Crime Scene Investigation Campers got to witness the live rescue demonstration featuring real first responders on Wednesday afternoon.

“Today, we are doing a mock accident so the kids get to see what a real car accident is like. That’s why we have full response in from the fire department, the ambulance, and thank goodness Life Flight was gracious enough to come in so the kids could see the helicopter,” Sgt. Jason Lorah said. “They’re actually going to be able to walk this accident scene afterward. They’re going to meet with the fire, EMS and Life Flight people and get to know about their end of the job.”

Earlier on in the day, Chief Brian Johnson ran through the details of a crime scene investigation at a crash with the students, teaching them how to piece the story of the incident together with evidence from the scene, include road markings and vehicle damage.

CSI Camp organizer Michele Bittner, who played the victim trapped in the car, said that the camp has become quite popular with students. When it began about six years ago, she said, there were about a dozen campers. This year, they hosted 27 campers and 12 counselors.

“They absolutely love it. I’m a fifth-grade teacher at West Penn Elementary, and when I start handing out the pamphlets, the response is overwhelming. They can’t wait to get here, and once they’re here, it’s phenomenal. They look forward to everything we do, and they take it all in,” she said.

As for being “trapped” in the wrecked vehicle, Bittner said it was a little frightening, but a valuable experience overall.

“Jason and I have been doing this for many years now, and I’ve never been in the car. It was a neat experience. It was a little scary, but to be quite honest, it was a good experience. All the people around me were very kind and very understanding and very gentle with everything was going on,” she said.

As soon as the demonstration began, the West Penn fire truck and Penn Mahoning Ambulance rolled onto the scene, with the first responders racing down to the accident near the covered bridge on the property. In order to safely extract Bittner, the firefighters had to use extrication tools.

“We popped the driver’s door, cut both the A and B posts on each side and removed the roof in order to get the patient out,” Lt. Cloyd Troxell said.

Next, Penn Mahoning’s EMS workers brought the back board and braces, which are a necessity for crashes that may involve neck injuries. John Kaczmarczyk, who works with both the ambulance company and the police department, got into the vehicle to cover Bittner with a blanket and protect her while the firefighters cut the car top off.

EMS worker Erin Behler said that the demonstration was a great way to familiarize the children with emergency personnel.

“It was good. I want them to learn, and not be afraid of us when we show up on a call,” she said.

Once Bittner was secured to the board and properly braced, the first responders moved her to the ambulance.

Along with the Life Flight crew, the emergency personnel brought a back board strapped with equipment over the helicopter to demonstrate the loading process to the students.

“It was really cool how we got to go out here and see it in real life, instead of just an explanation from Chief Johnson. I liked all of it, and I thought everything was cool, like the helicopter and the demo,” camper Max Najarro, 10, said.

Lindsey Gerhard, 11, said that she was able to learn a lot about crashes from Johnson’s morning lesson and the live demonstration, and that she feels more comfortable because of that.

“I learned how if you were in a car accident, how you would be taken out of it, and how you would be put into the ambulance and helicopter,” she said. “I thought it was really cool. Now, I feel a little bit better if I actually got into one, I would know more about it.”

Makayla Kester, 14, has been attending the camp for years, and just recently took up the role as counselor, where she relishes the opportunity to get more kids interested in the field of forensics and emergency services.

“Helping out is so much fun. They come up and ask you questions about what Sgt. Lorah or Chief Johnson are talking about, and it makes you so happy realizing that they’re having so much fun doing what I did two or three years ago,” she said.

Kaczmarczyk said that the camp makes for a great introduction to emergency services, and it may even inspire some kids to join one day.

“It’s always nice making a connection with the kids, having a positive interaction with them. It helps in the future when they’re making career choices, getting them into the public safety sector, and even cooperating with public safety as they get older,” he said.

Campers have already covered fingerprinting on Monday and shoe print casting on Tuesday. The camp will also include a narcotics investigations with Johnson and K-9 Gunner, and a trip to the communications center and District Justice James Ferrier’s office for a mock hearing. On Saturday, Lorah and company will set up some crime scenes for the kids, where they will have to use all of the skills they have accrued throughout the week.

“It’s all about applying science and common sense to solving crimes,” Lorah said.