RICHMOND, Ky. — Clad in a ragged black cloak and wielding a giant scythe, the Grim Reaper roamed the halls of a central Kentucky high school Tuesday morning, courtesy of a state program geared toward steering teens away from impaired driving.

Sponsored by the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety, the Ghost Out Program is an annual impaired driver prevention program designed to show high school students the consequences of driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs or for allowing others to do so.

“We want to remind the students to make smart decisions while they are celebrating their achievements and milestones,” Lloyd Jordison, health education director for the Madison County, Kentucky, Health Department, said. “We are here to show them the realities of driving impaired and how it affects not only their lives, but those of their friends and families.”

Jordison, who has coordinated the Ghost Out Program for local high schools for more than a decade, said the program rotates throughout the area’s public high schools and is usually delivered before spring break, prom and graduation.

The Ghost Out Program is presented by Eastern Kentucky University’s Baccalaureate Nursing program in collaboration the county health department, local law enforcement agencies, a local funeral home and a local group of education advocates.

The day’s activities, while theatrical, are rooted in very real stories and highlight the consequences of driving impaired, Jordison said.

Every 30 minutes, the foreboding Grim Reaper figure would knock on the door of a classroom, select an “unsuspecting” student or teacher and claim them as his next victim.

It was a stark reminder of the fact that about every 30 minutes in the United States, according to national statistics, someone is killed in an impaired driving accident.

The reminders didn’t end there.

The victims returned at the end of the day as “ghosts” during a mock funeral in the school’s gymnasium. Their “battered and bloodied” bodies were covered in a white sheet, a rose laid on their chests and their eulogies read in front of their teachers, parents and fellow students.

Jordison also highlighted the cooperation of local law enforcement and other first responders and the importance of driving the message home to students. Jordison added he hopes that by educating students about the consequences, the students will make better choices.

Lauren Chapman, an EKU senior and nursing major, said it was important for the college students to be there for the high school students Tuesday.

“Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killers of teens in the United States,” Chapman said during her remarks to the high school students. “We were in your shoes not too long ago. We know sometimes it is hard to say no and to go against your friends, but the consequences are too severe. We want you to be safe.”

Earlier in the day, with the school surrounded by a hearse, numerous police cruisers and ambulances, students participated in various activities that simulated the effects of being impaired while driving.

Students donned “drunk goggles” and were asked to perform simple tasks and navigate a course while their vision was impaired in much the same way as if they were drinking and driving.

While many of the high schoolers laughed at the antics of their peers while wearing the goggles, the laughter quickly died down during the afternoon’s Ghost Out assembly in the school’s darkened gymnasium. There, several guest speakers shared their stories about the consequences of driving impaired against a backdrop of a coffin.

Madison County, Kentucky, Coroner Jimmy Cornelison shared his personal experience about the effects of impaired driving on his work.

“When you choose to drive impaired or with someone that is impaired, that’s your last mode of transportation,” Cornelison said after he tossed a body bag onto the gym floor in front of the crowd of students. “A body bag, with me, and it’s a one-way ticket. I don’t do returns.”

The coroner, who hates bringing the bad news to parents, recounted the painful experience of notifying families that their child has died in a car crash and the lasting effects of that loss. He said the hardest part of his job is visiting the families and taking in the loss of a young person.

“It takes one second, one decision for your life to be over,” Cornelison said. “I want you to be here for your families and for your younger siblings that need you. It takes one decision to change everything in someone’s life. You are smart. Please make the right one.”

Students also received an account of what victims of an impaired driving accident go through once the physical injuries have healed. During the assembly, students watched a dash cam video of a police cruiser driving down a dark country road around midnight in July 2004.

“That was me screaming,” Kelly Samples McNew told the students after the dash cam footage ended. The footage showed scenes of a bloody, broken windshield and a case of beer in the front seat. “I was 12 years old and my brother was driving us back home,” she said. “We were less than a mile from our house when a drunk driver hit us.”

McNew recounted for students how she was thrown from the backseat into the car’s windshield where she became stuck. She said her brother’s legs were crushed in the accident, forcing him to now walk with a limp. McNew’s face was shredded by the glass, and both she and her brother had to undergo multiple surgeries. But she was lucky, McNew told students.

McNew also encouraged the students to make a promise to themselves that they would never drink and drive.

In the time since the tragic accident that killed the drunk driver’s girlfriend, McNew shared details of the pain, bullying, growth and healing that have made her strong enough to meet the driver in person, who apologized for his actions and promised her he would never touch alcohol again.

“And he hasn’t,” McNew said. “I know how hard that is for him. I know how hard it was for me to watch my friends drink when I was a teenager. I would tell them to stop and remind them of what can happen. I know, because it happened to me.”

Barker writes for the Richmond, Kentucky Register.