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Topics covered

Some of the topics covered at Youth Safety Day:

Internet safety.

First aid training.

Electrical safety.

Trenching and excavating.

Working in confined spaces.

Job application and interview skills.

There were plenty of instructors at the Washington County Career Center's Youth Safety Day Wednesday, from local professionals to law enforcement, but there was one presenter whose words - and attire - really caught the attention of the high school students.

Dylan Ogle, dressed in his orange jumpsuit from the Belmont Correctional Institution, headed to the front of a Career Center classroom several times throughout the day, telling the students where he ended up after driving drunk and high on prescription pills.

"It kind of scared me," said junior Adam Baker, 17. "At first I thought he was, like, an actor. Then I come to find out he's a real inmate."

Ogle, 28, who is more than four years into a six-year sentence for vehicular homicide, told the groups about prison life and the mistake he made to get there.

Battling a drug problem since age 14, Ogle said that at 23 he finally had a good job, a good girlfriend and friends and was attending meetings for his addiction.

But after drinking and taking "a lot of pills," for which he had a legitimate prescription, Ogle, of Cambridge, caused a head-on collision which instantly killed an 18-year-old girl and left him in a coma for months.

"It makes you think twice," said senior Lori Burns, 17. "You don't want to end up in the same situation."

About a month after Ogle emerged from the coma, as he began to again recognize his friends and family, he was told the details of the accident.

"They told me I killed a girl," Ogle said. "It crushed me. I just remember thinking my life was over."

Before even heading to prison, Ogle had to face hard days. While recovering from the accident and out on bond before sentencing, he had to have his girlfriend bathe him, clothe him and even help him go to the bathroom.

Later, he had to face the family of the girl he killed. Her mother told him in court that her daughter would be waiting for him after his death and would slam the doors to hell behind him.

"I still remember her exact words," Ogle said.

Ogle's presentation was just one of many during the Safety Day that the organizers and school officials hoped made an impact.

"We just want to open their eyes a little bit," said Jim Harris, on the board of directors for the Mid-Ohio Valley Safety Council, which sponsored the event. "We may not touch all the students, but even if we can get half, that's an accomplishment."

The day began in a big way, with a mock crash scene in front of the school. Several area fire departments responded, and a MedFlight helicopter landed at the school to assist the victim as the students watched.

"We wanted to drive the point home that if you drink and drive or drive and text, or other unsafe behavior, this could be the result," said Harris.

More of the 14 classes offered during the daylong event included a course on Internet safety, first aid training and some lessons that pertained directly to the students' studies at the Career Center, including electrical safety, trenching and excavating and a study of how to use equipment when working in confined spaces.

"That one helped me," said junior Dean Miller, 16, an industrial mechanics student. "It helps to know what we'll have to go down into and the different gases to watch out for."

The career-oriented lessons were mostly a way to reinforce what the Career Center instructors teach the students already, said Miller.

"We go over safety every day," he said. "But it's a lot better to hear it from different people."

Along with life safety and career safety, a few sessions simply focused on helping students get a job and stay employed. Dave Fleming, general manager of Greenleaf Landscapes, guided the students through filling out an application and gave them tips on how to appear ready to hire.