Betzy Bicknase wasn’t satisfied simply responding to tragedy.
A victim advocate with the Colorado State Patrol, Bicknase is on the front lines for the worst kinds of accidents, injuries and fatalities. She offers comfort and guidance to friends and families who have lost loved ones in car accidents. She’s a resource for those whose hope has been cut short.
In her post with the Colorado State Patrol, she delivers death notifications, she supports victims in court and works as a tireless advocate.
While Bicknase draws on her faith and her compassion to get her through the roughest moments of her job, she’s also found strength in focusing on prevention. That was what brought her to her work with the University of Colorado Hospital’s P.A.R.T.Y. program, an initiative that seeks to convey to high school students the dangers of drunk and distracted driving.
“I know it works,” Bicknase said between presentations at Aurora Central High School on April 13. Bicknase joined coordinators from UCH and state troopers for the day-long event, which included lectures, graphic images and firsthand accounts of tragic fatalities. “We had a rollover, and the kids who came to the hospital said, ‘We didn’t start to wear our belts until we saw your presentation.’”
The UCH P.A.R.T.Y. program, short for Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth, features a visceral and firsthand approach to prevention. Students can take part in a one-day program at the hospital itself, visiting emergency rooms and interacting with EMTs to get a sense of the true toll of drunk and distracted driving.
“We have people come from throughout the hospital – someone from the morgue, one of our employees who is our survivor speaker. Her sister passed away in a car crash and she talks to the students about that,” said Joy Schmitter, an EMS and Injury Prevention Coordinator at the University of Colorado Hospital. “I’m a paramedic by trade and I’ve been in the business for 15 years. We share our experiences.”
Last week’s event at Central saw P.A.R.T.Y. directors bringing the message directly to the students. In addition to the lectures, the photos and the firsthand accounts, the students saw the firsthand dangers of impaired driving in a wrecked sedan parked in front of Central’s entryway. The driver was a teenager who had hit the clubs in Denver on a weekend to relieve stress. He was driving home with a friend in the passenger seat when he headed the wrong way down a service road and hit a construction truck head-on. His passenger was killed immediately.
“When someone’s shot, it’s big news, but with a kid in a car crash, it’s just another accident,” Bicknase said. “They don’t realize that it’s an under-served, overlooked population of people.”
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707