Sailors in Rota, Spain, conduct an emergency response drill to raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving. The Naval Academy held a safety standdown for the Brigade of Midshipmen in preparation for the upcoming spring break. U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Glen Dennis.

Your face is so cut-up you’re unrecognizable. Your ribs are separated from your sternum from the impact of the steering wheel. Your knee caps are torn clean off, and your femurs are shattered from crashing into the dashboard.

When the paramedics arrive you are screaming so loud they can’t hear their siren.

The good news is that you’re still alive, at least for the moment. The bad news is that you are a long way away from being okay. The paramedics have to cut the roof off your car just to get you out. They strip you naked to see if parts of the car are embedded in your body.

You’re in such critical condition that the paramedics can’t give you pain relievers.

Your own teeth are obstructing your airway, so the paramedics must give you a tracheotomy. You’re bleeding internally, which is causing your stomach to swell. The paramedics force a needle through your chest to relieve the pressure.

You weren’t wearing your seat belt, and this is the anatomy of a car accident.

As the Brigade of Midshipman prepares to embark on spring break, Naval Academy leadership held an all hands safety standdown in Alumni Hall March 3. Aimed at reducing accidents and injuries during spring break, the safety standdown included an address from Commandant of Midshipmen Capt. Margaret Klein, a presentation delivered by Brigade Safety Officer Midn. 1⁄C Mark Schron, and a brief called Street Smart, presented by two firefighter⁄paramedics working for Stay Alive From Education (S.A.F.E.).

‘‘As most of you depart from the Academy for one destination or another, we ask that you take the time to prepare for spring break from a safety prospective,” said Klein. ‘‘Safety needs to be an integral part of our jobs. Our lives and the lives of others depend on it.”

Klein reminded the Brigade that the decisions they make, from wearing sunblock to not drinking and driving, need to be pro-active and not reactive. According to Klein, alcohol is the number one killer of people ages 18 to 25.

During the Street Smart presentation, the paramedics used graphic photos and videos to show the Midshipmen the all-too-real consequences of combining drugs and alcohol with motor vehicles. They used Midshipman participation to actively engage the Brigade as they ran through a play-by-play account of a typical traumatic vehicular accident in which the victim was not wearing a seatbelt.

As Midshipmen make plans to visit family or spend a few days under a faraway tropical sun, Klein wants them to ask themselves one important question.

‘‘Are we doing everything that we can to keep each other safe?”

Buckle up.