MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- An accident involving a drunk driver left one dead and four others, including an infant, in critical condition Friday morning during a dramatization on the parade deck here. While this was only a simulation on MCAS Miramar May 24, it happens, on statistical average, at least once a day somewhere in the United States.

Marine Aircraft Group 11 (MAG-11) and Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area (MCABWA) held a safety stand-down in order raise safety awareness among the Marines of MCABWA and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW).

"The safety stand-down's focus is to show the dangers and realities of drunken driving," said Maj. Thomas Innocenti III, director of safety and standardization, MAG-11.

The intent behind the stand-down was to keep Memorial Day weekend mishaps at a nonexistent level.

Before the demonstration began, Maj. Gen. William G. Bowdon, commanding general, MCABWA, addressed the Marines about the dangers of drinking and driving. Cindy Roark, president, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, San Diego Chapter, also spoke to the Marines and gave a dramatic testimony of how she lost her daughter to a drunk driver.

The staged automobile accident was heard and seen by more than two thousand Marines. The wreck involved two cars and six actors. Of the six actors, one was pronounced dead on arrival, an adult and infant were evacuated by helicopter, one was arrested and the other three were transported by ambulance.

Military police (MP) were the first on the scene, and thanks to microphones and loud-speakers, the captive audience was able to hear every word of what was going on. The driver of the vehicle that caused the accident fled the scene before the MPs showed up.

After checking all the victims, MPs radioed for emergency services. An ambulance and fire trucks showed up within minutes.

The firefighters and emergency medical personnel went to work extracting and treating the "victims."

The injured Marines were transported to the hospital by ambulance. One required far more attention, and an emergency medical helicopter, simulated by a Marine UH-1 Huey, after the Marine was extracted from a wrecked vehicle with the Jaws-of-Life.

After extracting and treating the adult victims, the rescue workers found the infant on the floor of the back seat. Medical personnel surrounded the vehicle as Marines watched in silence.

Firefighters then pulled an infant doll from the wreckage, carried it out on a back board and placed it next to one of the injured actors.

"I think when the baby was pulled out, that really got to me, because I just couldn't imagine anything happening to my family," said Cpl. Yovani O. Rodriguez, personnel clerk, MAG-11.

When the helicopter arrived, the wounded Marine and infant were loaded aboard, and the aircraft took off, kicking dust into the crowd.

Shortly after the helicopter departed, the San Diego County Coroner showed up to pronounce one Marine dead. The Marine was placed in a coffin and driven away in a hearse.

After the scene was secured and all the injured Marines were cared for, two California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers arrived in two patrol cars and two motorcycles.

The driver was nowhere to be found, but with the help of a CHP helicopter they hunted down the drunk Marine in a matter of minutes.

A CHP officer began administering a field-sobriety test to the Marine in the car that caused the wreck. The officer determined the Marine was drunk and he was arrested on the spot, and then hauled away in the back of a patrol car.

"It is the first holiday weekend of the summer, and we're hoping that these Marines will walk away with the proper attitude to do the right thing during this holiday weekend and all summer long," said Maj. Robert T. Warshel, ground safety officer, MAG-11.